[p2p-research] The nature of apple trees (was: Re: [ox-en] apples and moonfruits)

[Kevin Carson]

On 4/22/09, Stefan Merten <smerten at oekonux.de> wrote:

>  There are those apple trees (aka captialism or any exchange based
>  system) and these apple trees have lots of drawbacks. Those advocating
>  money trickery basically say: Well, though the apple trees are bad
>  there are these apple tree seeds (aka exchange). If we modify the
>  seeds somehow the problems with the apple trees will vanish.
>
>  Someone who does not believe in money trickery now says: Well, that
>  position ignores the nature of the apple trees.

>  In short: It is the nature of the apple tree seed (aka exchange) to
>  end up in an apple tree (aka given the historical circumstances:
>  capitalism). You are either unable to hinder the nature of the apple
>  tree seed to become an apple tree or you destroy it altogether.

This contention, that the "tree" of markets and exchange contains
capitalist DNA, and that exchange will inevitably develop into
capitalism, has been disputed on this list before--by myself, among
others--and I don't think you've proven your case.  You have yet to
demonstrate, IMO, that capitalism is inherent in markets rather than
being a perverted form of the market that arises from massive state
intervention on behalf of privileged classes.  And I think the term
"money trickery" is quite prejudicial, and hardly appropriate for
describing exchanges between equal producers.

-- 
Kevin Carson
Center for a Stateless Society http://c4ss.org
Mutualist Blog:  Free Market Anti-Capitalism
http://mutualist.blogspot.com
Studies in Mutualist Political Economy
http://www.mutualist.org/id47.html
Organization Theory:  A Libertarian Perspective
http://mutualist.blogspot.com/2005/12/studies-in-anarchist-theory-of.html