[p2p-research] Life after capitalism (was: Re: labour, capital and p2p)

[Christian Siefkes]

Ryan,

Ryan Lanham wrote:
> Tell me what you think some of Marx's great and relevant insights on the
> present are?  Why don't we discuss his ideas rather than his iconic
> status. 
> 
> Your ideas on defining capital and labor are a bit broad.  I would

They seem broad only for current society, since nowadays almost all labor is
capitalistic. But historically they are quite specific: capitalism requires
what Marx called the "doppelt freie Lohnarbeiter" ("doubly free worker" --
not sure what is the correct English translation), i.e. people who are
"free" in a double sense: "free" human beings who are allowed to sell their
labor power (not slaves or serfs), but also "free" of the means of
production, i.e. without access to tools and resources what would allow them
to produce for themselves, without having to sell their labor power.

Today, almost everybody is a "doubly free worker", but that was not always
the case. Creating the doubly free worker was a historical process that
comprised, on the one hand, the liberation of slaves/serfs and, on the other
hand, the "enclosure of the commons"
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enclosure>, the privatization of land and
other resources which had formerly belonged to all. That historical process
is described by Marx in his chapter(s) on the "so-called primitive
accumulation" in Capital I, starting here:
http://marxists.catbull.com/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch26.htm .

While capitalism became possible only through the "enclosure of the commons"
that separated people from direct access to the means of production, the
transition to a post-capitalist will require a "reopening of the commons,"
which reverses that historical process. And indeed we see such a reopening
already taking place, as new commons are created (free software, Wikipedia
etc.) and struggles for old, or former commons (land, water etc.) are
increasing.

> encourage you to point me and others to a portrait of what such a system
> would look like...say on an island...or a sea stead.  How would it
> work?  Would interest and investment be forbidden?  What if most people
> didn't like those rules?

Marx has only left sparse notes about how a post-capitalist society might
look like, as I mentioned--that was not his topic, and he considered any
detailed descriptions of such a society as premature and utopian. I guess he
considered it impossible to really imagine such a society in his times, and
he was probably right, but I also think that has changed since we're now
seeing the beginnings of a possible post-capitalist way of production
emerging around us: commons-based peer production.

Of course, we're still far away from a fully fledged commons-based peer
economy, but I think we can get there. As Stan already mentioned, I've
written about how such a society might look like. For a short overview, you
might want to check my recent article, "The Commons of the Future"
<http://www.commoner.org.uk/?p=78>.

A more detailed explanation is available in a 5-part blog series, starting
here:
http://www.keimform.de/2008/01/21/material-peer-production-part-0-traits-of-peer-production/
. And, of course, there is my book, "From Exchange to Contributions:
Generalizing Peer Production into the Physical World"
<http://peerconomy.org/wiki/Main_Page#The_Book>
(available for downloading and as a printed book).

Best regards
	Christian

-- 
|-------- Dr. Christian Siefkes --------- christian at siefkes.net ---------
|   Homepage: http://www.siefkes.net/   |   Blog: http://www.keimform.de/
|   Better Bayesian Analysis:           |   Peer Production Everywhere:
|   http://bart-project.com/            |   http://peerconomy.org/wiki/
|------------------------------------------ OpenPGP Key ID: 0x346452D8 --
Copyright, having turned from a regulation into a subsidy of publishing
industries, is the 21st century equivalent of drug legislation. Everyone
knows that it is obsolete, dysfunctional, and depriving people of
their rights; absurd wars are fought in its name. The simple fix is to
abolish it.
        -- Florian Cramer


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