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[1614] Tink: This is justified in Marx's
examples because he illustrates that while the individual point of view may
“appear” to exist differently than the social point of view, the social is
what holds true for real capitalism. Early in chapter 23 Marx discusses how
production must be continous or periodic to exist. He says that “every child
knows that a nation which ceased to work, I will not say for a year, but
even for a few weeks, would perish.” This may not hold true for the
individual because an individual can consume without producing as long as
someone else is producing. However it does hold true for society. If the
entire society simply consumed without producing it would crumble. If this happened, the
individuals' previous situation (of being able to consume without producing)
no longer matters, because they too would not be able to consume, because no
production exists. Thus Marx is justified when he acts as though the social
point of view is true. If Marx were to act as though the individual's
situation was the rule, then the behavior of the society would be irrelevant
and difficult to examine. |
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