Date: Wed, 5 Feb 1997 13:21:03 -0500 (EST)
From: Louis Proyect <lnp3-AT-columbia.edu>
Subject: M-I: Don't be so petulant (lnp #2)


Andrew Austin:

>Louis,
>
>Thanks for your comments.
>
>AA
>

Louis P.: Andrew, stop acting so petulant. This list provides a valuable
opportunity to interact socially with other Marxists. I have already told
you that I valued your contributions, even though I think they would be more
appropriate on thaxis than m-i. I am just trying to make a mensch of you the
way my father made me. He used to slap me in the head and call me stupid all
the time. That helped me to evolve into the human being I am today.

When you criticize a grizzled old-time like me for engaging in "amateur
psychology" when I speak about alienation in terms that won't be found in
Tom Bottomore's "Dictionary of Marxist Thought", you are asking for a
spanking. I have sacrificed much in the interests of Marxism. Did you know
that I was wounded in the battle of Rio Negro during the contra war in
Nicaragua while installing a tactical military computer network for the
Sandinista army? I lost my right ear and three toes on my left foot during
fierce hand-to-hand machete fighting with the feared contra leader
Commandante Mizpucha.

You have to learn a little respect for your elders. Not only do I and the
rest of m-i understand the labor theory of value, many of us have done
original research on the subject. Did you know that I wrote computer
software to solve the transformation problem? This program was featured in
the August 1994 edition of "Computers and Marxist Theory", a journal put out
jointly by the computer science and philosophy departments of Rattlesnake
College in East Jesus, Nebraska. Here is the source code for all who are
interested:

-----------------------------------------------------------------
while (<STDIN>)

   {
    $labor = substr($_, 0, 6);
    $time = substr($_, 7, 1);
    $fixed_capital = substr($_, 8, 9);
    $variable_capital = substr($_, 17, 2);
    $temperature = substr($_, 31, 30);
    chop $description;
    $x=$y=-AT-array=-AT-reverse_array=0;
    &transformation;
    print $transformation_value;}

sub transformation {
$transformation_value = ($labor / $time * $variable_capital ** $temperature);

while ($orig > 0)

   {$div = ($orig / 36);
    $round_div = sprintf("%1d", $div);
    $remainder = $orig - ($round_div*36);
    &translate;  
    -AT-array[$x] = $translated_remainder;

    $orig = $round_div;

    $x++;}

$sizeof_array = -AT-array;
$start_key = $sizeof_array - 1;

while ($y < $sizeof_array)

  {$reverse_array[$y] = $array[$start_key];
   $start_key--;
   $y++;}

$length = -AT-reverse_array;

if ($length == 7)
    {$base_36_vendnum "$prefix-AT-reverse_array[0]-AT-reverse_array[1]-AT-reverse_array[2]-AT-reverse_array[3]
-AT-reverse_array[4]-AT-reverse_array[5]-AT-reverse_array[6]$suffix";}
elsif ($length == 6)   
    {$base_36_vendnum "$prefix$zero1-AT-reverse_array[0]-AT-reverse_array[1]-AT-reverse_array[2]-AT-reverse_ar
ray[3]-AT-reverse_array[4]-AT-reverse_array[5]$suffix";}
elsif  ($length == 5)   
    {$base_36_vendnum "$prefix$zero2-AT-reverse_array[0]-AT-reverse_array[1]-AT-reverse_array[2]-AT-reverse_ar
ray[3]-AT-reverse_array[4]$suffix";}
elsif  ($length == 4)   
    {$base_36_vendnum "$prefix$zero3-AT-reverse_array[0]-AT-reverse_array[1]-AT-reverse_array[2]-AT-reverse_ar
ray[3]$suffix";}
elsif  ($length == 3)   
    {$base_36_vendnum "$prefix$zero4-AT-reverse_array[0]-AT-reverse_array[1]-AT-reverse_array[2]$suffix";}
elsif  ($length == 2)   
    {$base_36_vendnum "$prefix$zero5-AT-reverse_array[0]-AT-reverse_array[1]$suffix";}
elsif  ($length == 1)   
    {$base_36_vendnum = "$prefix$zero6-AT-reverse_array[0]$suffix";}
print "$po_number\t$base_36_vendnum\t$description\n";

}

sub translate {

-AT-translation_array=("0","1","2","3","4","5","6","7","8","9",
                    "A","B","C","D","E","F","G","H","I","J",
                    "K","L","M","N","O","P","Q","R","S","T",
                    "U","V","W","X","Y","Z");

$translated_remainder = -AT-translation_array[$remainder];
}



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