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Single Idea 21994

[filed under theme 24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 11. Capitalism ]

Full Idea

The handmill gives you society with the feudal lord; the steam mill society with the industrial capitalist.

Gist of Idea

The handmill gives feudalism, the steam mill capitalism

Source

Karl Marx (The Poverty of Philosophy [1847], p.202), quoted by Peter Singer - Marx 7

Book Ref

Singer,Peter: 'Marx' [OUP 1996], p.36


A Reaction

If technology dictates social structure, then feudalism is still with us, in low-tech industries. What if the steam mill had been invented in 1300?


The 31 ideas from Karl Marx

Must production determine superstructure, or could it be the other way round? [Singer on Marx]
Even decently paid workers still have their produce bought with money stolen from them [Marx]
Freedom only comes when labour is no longer necessary [Marx]
From each according to his ability, to each according to his need [Marx]
People who only have their labour power are the slaves of those permitting them to work [Marx]
Bourgeois 'freedom of conscience' just tolerates all sorts of religious intolerance [Marx]
Freedom is making the state subordinate to its society [Marx]
In moving from capitalism to communism a revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat is needed [Marx]
The real will of the cooperative will replace the 'will of the people' [Marx]
The middle class gain freedom through property, but workers can only free all of humanity [Marx, by Singer]
Religion is the opium of the people, and real happiness requires its abolition [Marx]
Theory is as much a part of a revolution as material force is [Marx]
Marxists say liberal rights are confrontational, and liberal equality is a sham [Marx, by Wolff,J]
Man is dominated by money, which is the essence of his alienation [Marx]
The handmill gives feudalism, the steam mill capitalism [Marx]
The authentic self exists at the level of class, rather than the individual [Marx, by Dunt]
Whether human thinking can be 'true' must be decided in practice, not theory [Marx]
The human essence is not found in individuals but in social relations [Marx]
Religious feeling is social in origin [Marx]
Philosophers have interpreted the world, but the point is to change it [Marx]
Armies and businesses create moralities in which their activity can do no wrong [Marx, by Weil]
Early Marx anticipates communitarian objections to liberalism [Marx, by Oksala]
Liberal freedom is the right to be separate, and ignores the union of man with man [Marx]
By saying the material dialectic of history aspires to the best, Marx agreed with capitalism [Weil on Marx]
False consciousness results from concealment by the superstructure [Marx, by Singer]
Marx says force is everything, and that the weak will become strong, while remaining the weak [Weil on Marx]
The essence of capitalism is the subordination of people to things [Marx, by Weil]
Capitalism changes the world, by socialising the idea of a commodity [Marx, by Bowie]
Marx thought capitalism was partly liberating, and could make labour and ownership more humane [Marx, by Bowie]
Marx rejected equal rights because they never actually treat people as equals [Marx, by Kymlicka]
Liberals want the right to be separate, rather than for people to be united [Marx]