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I commented on his previous article here. That missive was rife with half-formed arguments, misdirections, and straw men. Let's see if he can straighten things out. Read on:
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Having previously attracted the ire of conservatives in my role as a publicly self-identified communist who advocates for collective ownership of property, I should have seen it coming. Knowing how giddy my critics would be, I shouldn’t have tweeted when my backpack, containing my computer, was recently stolen from a friend’s car. When I did, conservative Twitter had such a ball taunting me with Extremely Hilarious variations on the same “liberating property” line that they made a whole entire Twitchy out of the affair (my apologies if this is the first you are learning of that site). Now, don’t get me wrong, crowing over the misfortunes of one’s political opponents is good fun and a natural right, but for best results the taunts should be both witty and coherent. On the matter of wit I’ll defer to you, but in the coherence division this late episode was sorely lacking.
Specifically, the barbs confused possessions with property, a long-acknowledged dichotomy I have attempted to articulate on television, social media and here at Salon, evidently in vain. So, once again: When I advocate collectivizing property, I am talking about financial assets (land deeds, stocks, bonds, patents and other intellectual property monopolies, and so forth), not personal possessions that human beings use on an ongoing basis, like computers or backpacks or clothes or cars or whatever. The latter are for use, the former for making money. If the occasional blurriness of these categories is reflected in dictionary definitions, that does not eliminate the obvious conceptual distinction. ("Obvious conceptual distinction?" Hardly. It is a contrived, artificial distinction, the primary purpose of which is to reassure us that we'll get to keep our stuff when government comes to confiscate everything else. On what basis he is able to claim this is unknown, because the ability of government to follow "the rules" has never been demonstrated in a free society, let alone a communistic one.)
Nor, despite charming insinuations to the contrary, does the distinction alone undermine pro-capitalist arguments. It is perfectly possible to differentiate between property – known by some as “the means of production” or “capital” – and personal possessions – known by some as “the fruits of production” or “stuff” – and still make the case that property is better owned privately than publicly, but right-wing Twitter declined to make this case, preferring instead to pretend, ears finger-plugged, “la la la” gleefully ringing from each freedom-loving throat, that there is no difference between a stock and a sweater. (Sweaters and other use-commodities can also be collectivized in lending libraries, as some communities do with bikes, cars, tools, toys and, obviously, books – but this is not crucial for ending capitalism.) (Yes, it is possible to differentiate between property and possessions. It is also possible there is a utopian world with pink unicorns and rainbows. What the author seems unable to comprehend is that the "means of production" he so earnestly wants government to confiscate is still someone's stuff. He only wants to draw a line between some stuff and other stuff.)
I commented on his previous article here. That missive was rife with half-formed arguments, misdirections, and straw men. Let's see if he can straighten things out. Read on:
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Having previously attracted the ire of conservatives in my role as a publicly self-identified communist who advocates for collective ownership of property, I should have seen it coming. Knowing how giddy my critics would be, I shouldn’t have tweeted when my backpack, containing my computer, was recently stolen from a friend’s car. When I did, conservative Twitter had such a ball taunting me with Extremely Hilarious variations on the same “liberating property” line that they made a whole entire Twitchy out of the affair (my apologies if this is the first you are learning of that site). Now, don’t get me wrong, crowing over the misfortunes of one’s political opponents is good fun and a natural right, but for best results the taunts should be both witty and coherent. On the matter of wit I’ll defer to you, but in the coherence division this late episode was sorely lacking.
Specifically, the barbs confused possessions with property, a long-acknowledged dichotomy I have attempted to articulate on television, social media and here at Salon, evidently in vain. So, once again: When I advocate collectivizing property, I am talking about financial assets (land deeds, stocks, bonds, patents and other intellectual property monopolies, and so forth), not personal possessions that human beings use on an ongoing basis, like computers or backpacks or clothes or cars or whatever. The latter are for use, the former for making money. If the occasional blurriness of these categories is reflected in dictionary definitions, that does not eliminate the obvious conceptual distinction. ("Obvious conceptual distinction?" Hardly. It is a contrived, artificial distinction, the primary purpose of which is to reassure us that we'll get to keep our stuff when government comes to confiscate everything else. On what basis he is able to claim this is unknown, because the ability of government to follow "the rules" has never been demonstrated in a free society, let alone a communistic one.)
Nor, despite charming insinuations to the contrary, does the distinction alone undermine pro-capitalist arguments. It is perfectly possible to differentiate between property – known by some as “the means of production” or “capital” – and personal possessions – known by some as “the fruits of production” or “stuff” – and still make the case that property is better owned privately than publicly, but right-wing Twitter declined to make this case, preferring instead to pretend, ears finger-plugged, “la la la” gleefully ringing from each freedom-loving throat, that there is no difference between a stock and a sweater. (Sweaters and other use-commodities can also be collectivized in lending libraries, as some communities do with bikes, cars, tools, toys and, obviously, books – but this is not crucial for ending capitalism.) (Yes, it is possible to differentiate between property and possessions. It is also possible there is a utopian world with pink unicorns and rainbows. What the author seems unable to comprehend is that the "means of production" he so earnestly wants government to confiscate is still someone's stuff. He only wants to draw a line between some stuff and other stuff.)