Thursday, September 11, 2014

Noah Smith — Arbitrary value systems are arbitrary


Noah comments on Matt Bruenig on whack-a-mole.
Matt will be playing Capitalist Whack-a-Mole for all eternity, because unlike classic Whack-a-Mole, the number of holes from which moles can emerge is not finite.
Noahpinion
Arbitrary value systems are arbitrary
Noah Smith | Assistant Professor, Stony Brook University

1 comment:

Magpie said...

What Smith got wrong is his characterization of capitalism: capitalism is not a value system at all (i.e. a set of normative judgements about how society should work).

Capitalism is a mode of production which evolved in historical time.

Arbitrary value systems are ad hoc justifications which apologists of capital (like Smith) concoct to confuse well-meaning but ultimately wrong people like Bruenig.