From: Dieter Dambiec <d.dambiec-AT-student.canberra.edu.au>
Subject: RE: M-TH: Re: G.A. Cohen Interview in Philosophers' Web Magazine 
Date: Sun, 19 Oct 1997 13:18:36 +1000



------ =_NextPart_000_01BCDCD1.3D4F1600

Prior to production one must look at the allocation of natural resources and human resources.  There is no use in producing products in an area where the natural resources do not exist.  Capitalist production at present relies on export of raw materials.  This diminishes the productive potentiality of a region.  The fundamental premise should be to extract raw materials in the region to which they pertain and the produce some degree of value added or secondary products from them.  This will increase the well being of the region.

Thus maximum industries should be developed in the local area according to the availability of raw materials or local consumption. This principle will develop the economic potential of a socioeconomic unit by placing economic power into the hands of the local people and divesting outsiders of their control over the economy. In a economy most industries will be run as agricultural, producer or consumer cooperatives creating a new kind of cooperative spirit or cooperative dynamo. Such an approach will place economic power into the hands of those who work physically or intellectually for proper production, stripping capitalists of their exploitative economic power. Thus maximum industrial development will be assured.

Several corollaries arise from this principle.

First, industries should utilise locally available local raw materials and should not import raw materials from outside the socioeconomic unit. Raw materials are the basic ingredients or resources necessary to make finished products. The tyre industry, for example, requires rubber plantations as rubber sap is the basic raw material for this industry. If the topography of the local area favours the ample growth of rubber trees, then industries may be created around this raw material. Or, if alternative synthetic materials are available, a synthetic tyre industry may be developed. There are several reasons why industries should utilise locally available raw materials.

First, not all areas have the same socioeconomic potential. Different areas will naturally be conducive to producing different kinds of raw materials, as in the case of plant-based raw materials. Industries based on locally available raw materials can produce commodities cheaply, be located near ready supplies of raw materials, and ensure their self-reliance. These advantages are not apparent where there is a dependence on outside raw materials.

Secondly, raw material producers, especially producer cooperatives, will prosper as there will be ready markets for their products.

Thirdly, industries will feel secure when they know that sufficient raw materials are available to supply their needs, and they will be able to plan their future production efficiently.

Fourthly, many large capitalists deliberately influence the economic and political policies of a local area by preventing the growth of local industries based on the local raw materials. They further exploit the local people by selling manufactured goods in the local markets which are made from locally produced raw materials. Australia, for example, imports many manufactured goods from Japan which are produced from Australian raw materials. Encouraging the growth of local industries based on local raw materials will terminate the dominance individual and collective capitalists exercise over the local markets, ending the drainage of capital vital for the local area's economic growth.

A second corollary of the second point is that local raw materials should not be exported--only manufactured goods should be exported. Local raw material prices in the export market are subject to manipulation and erratic fluctuations as they are currently traded through speculative commodity markets which are controlled by vested interests. To root out dishonesty from the field of trade, free trade should be established throughout the world as far as possible. Manufactured goods, on the other hand, are generally subject to less price manipulation and command better prices than raw materials. By manufacturing locally finished products, a socioeconomic unit can conserve its reserve bullion and improve the purchasing capacity of the local people.

A third corollary is that if no potential exists to produce the manufactured goods required by industry in the local area, only then should the importation of such goods be allowed. Importation of manufactured goods means that local capital is being transferred to another socioeconomic unit which has produced the product. The drainage of capital is always detrimental to the economic growth of a socioeconomic unit, therefore unnecessary importation should always be discouraged. 

Marx in his *Critique of the Gotha Program*
criticized
socialist critiques of capitalism that focused too much on distributional
issues.   As Marx put it:

	Quite apart from the analysis so far given, it was in general
	a mistake to make a fuss about so-called distribution and
	put the principle stress on it.

	Any distribution whatever of the means of consumption is only
	a consequence of the distribution of the conditions of production
	themselves.  The latter distribution, however, is a feature of
	the mode of production itself.  The capitalist mode of
production,
	for example, rests on the fact that the material conditions of
	production are in the hands of non-workers in the form of
	property in capital and land, while the masses are only
	owners of the personal condition of production, of labor
	power.  If the elements of production are so distributed, then
	the present-day distribution of the means of consumption
	results automatically.  If the material conditions of production
	are the co-operative property of the workers themselves,
	then there likewise results a distribution of the means of
	consumption different from the present one.  Vulgar
	socialism (and from it in turn a section of the democracy)
	has taken over from the bourgeois economists the
	consideration and treatment of distribution as independent
	of the mode of production and hence the presentation
	of socialism as turning principally on distribution.  After
	the real relation has long been made clear, why retrogress
	again?

Marx and Engels' critiques of capitalism as expounded in works
ranging from the *1844 Manuscripts*  to *Capital*  placed the focus
of critique on the nature of production under capitalism rather
than on distribution as such.  They criticized the dehumanizing nature
of the division of labor as it exists under capitalism and they looked
forward to its eventual abolition under communism.
[] 
So it seems Marx had a point about production being a prior necessary change before distribution needs to be considered but to say that anything before or after production results 'automatically' is simply not feasible.


------ =_NextPart_000_01BCDCD1.3D4F1600
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=
------ =_NextPart_000_01BCDCD1.3D4F1600--



     --- from list marxism-thaxis-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---