Tasks for 21st Century Marxist Economics
The movement of history can be understood as the result of a continual intertwining of the relations of production (who produces and who consumes) and the means of production (technology.) Technological development drives changing social relations and vice versa. At certain junctures in history’s development the conflict between these two forces manifests itself in a way that appears on the surface to be so drastically different that it is labeled “revolutionary.”
At these points it becomes critical to develop a theory that both explains the new phenomenon and grounds such recent developments in a larger historical context. In essence, we must correctly parse out the new and old.
We have entered into precisely such a period; and, Marxist theory is required to show how seemingly “revolutionary” changes like the sharing economy, big data, and advanced robotics are not revolutionary but merely new manifestations of processes extant in Capitlism since its birth. Furthermore, we must explain contemporary macroeconomic phenomena such as stagnating world growth as natural Capitalist developments.
Revolution is the process of fundamentally changing the relations of production. And, for example, the sharing economy exemplified by companies like Uber is still making some people rich off of the labor of others.
There is something unique to the era we have entered, however. The means of production have developed to the level required to allow us to transition to new, more equitable relations of production where machines do the work that previously would only be done by humans forced into the labor market by need. That transition to Socialism will be contingent on political struggle, and 21st Century Marxist Economics is called to provide Left movements with ideological cover, theoretical guidance, and a workable end goal.
Critique limitations of Neoclassical and Keynesian economics
Neoclassical and Keynesian theories have been locked in an embrace of alternating supremacy for the last hundred years. As Capitalism struggles through a crisis, these theorists work to explain it through their particular lens as well as develop new tools to right the ship. The result is always a proclamation that Capitalism has finally been tamed.
Yet, another crisis invariably occurs.
The task of Marxists is to highlight the failure of mainstream economic theory to give satisfactory explanations for the economic phenomenon we’re currently witnessing while offering a convincing alternative. This will entail going head to head with the leading theorists of Capitalism. We have to develop our own popular platforms, cultivate a vibrant audience, and ultimately take our enemies on on their own turf. Where our voices are shut out, we’ll break down the door to have our say. Marxism must become relevant to the conversation again and extend our reach beyond the Left.
Provide empirical evidence for Marxist categories
The standard de rigeur in Economics today is empirical proof. In order to dethrone the dominant economic theories we’ll have to produce mountains of evidence.
In order to do so, we must espouse a simplified Marxist theory based on the labor theory of value. If the LTV can be proven empirically then a full set of economic categories fall in to place. For example, the tendency of the rate of profit to fall can be deduced directly from the LTV. And, if one can be proven empirically so should the other be.
A lot of work has already been done in this area. But, we will need to extend it as well as popularise it. The labor theory of value must become incontrivertible to the point of becoming common sense. To make it so, we will have to head off every argument against it with more overwhelming evidence.
Contribute to Socialist strategy with accurate predictions
Correct theories must not only be able to make sense of the past, they need to be able to accurately predict the future. Having a more correct view of the world will help the Left to strategically outflank its enemies.
It might well be true that 90% of worldly phenomena can be explained with vulgar Marxist Economics. We’ll still need to bring in the extra 10%. That means building a platform to harness subjective knowledge in a way that is as objective as possible. Such a platform will most likely take the form of a predictive analytics engine that leverages trained superforecasters, cognitive diversity, decision analysis, prediction markets, and the wisdom of crowds and wraps them up into an artificial neural network that fine tunes itself based on backpropagation.
Provide a feasible alternative
It is not enough to critique failed theories and give more accurate predictions. Twenty-first Century Marxist Economics will also need to provide a feasible alternative to Capitalism. The world is currently awash with anti-austerity parties and the Left is rife with pronouncements on the end of work and the possibility of automated Socialism. Yet, no implementable systems exist. We don’t even have the people in place or the skills necessary to design such a system. Vague goals of a future Socialism might spur some to action, but taking power without the means to actually change the mode of production opens the door to reaction — see Venezuela.
We need to design a system for coordinating a Socialist economy. This will serve as a concrete end goal as well as a point of real political struggle on the Left. Theoretical arguments over centralization versus decentralization, for example, are worse than pointless if neither can actually be built.
Building such a system will leverage everything we know about supply chain management, distributed computation, machine learning, and the internet of things, among other things.
All of this suggests a path forward for 21st Century Marxist Economics, if not a timeline. Brick and Mortar stands at the start of the journey. Here we will critique mainstream economic theories and offer an alternative Marxist explanation for today’s happenings. The goal is longer and more lasting works; one possible artifact is a history of contemporary Marxist Economics since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Through more well-known, accessible works, we hope to attract the interest of talented and potentially talented Marxists as well as a modicum of institutional and financial support. That will allow us to expand to engage in original empirical research.
The experience gained and tools developed from our research will lead directly to our ability to design and build a predictive analytics engine. That engine will form the backbone of an open strategy platform that will finally break through the contradictions of Democracy that have plagued the Left since the dawn of Leftism.
This will prove a turning point where 21st Century Marxist Economics is no longer about merely explaining Capitalism but instead aims to build an economic system that expresses our Socialist values.
The open strategy platform will serve the dual purpose of helping to guide the Socialist movement while also forming a critical component of a Socialist economy — it will stand as the mechanism for popular participation and consumer feedback. This system will be extended to encompass the process of coordinating production and distribution on a world scale.
We aim to build actually existing software to run a Socialist economy. While we can never fully anticipate the needs of a Socialist society, we can make great inroads given our current state of knowledge about people and their interactions as well as the current state of technology. Just as an example, the system should be able to respond to six sigma disasters to shift production to unaffected areas while directing the proper disaster relief goods to affected areas. Revolutionary movements that break the shackles of Capital will have an actual alternative.
If Erich Fromm was correct that building Socialism will take the best minds of a generation, then we must be that generation’s intellectual progenitors. It takes a lot of shoulders at the wheel to move history and we’ll need all of the help we can get. Let us know if you’re interested: the only requirements are intellectual honesty and tenacity.
