On my last night in Parksville, I am outside well before sunset. The sun is in my eyes, in fact.
I managed to read most of Ch. 15 of Capital Vol. 1. It’s awesome. It’s basically a history of the horrors of emergent capitalism during the Industrial Revolution. The tales of horror and woe that befell the most wretched of England during that time – let’s just say roughly all of the 1800s – defies belief. It is all the more horrifying to understand that an unconscionable number were youths, and children under the age of 13. There are even historical accounts (and let me stress that it is the historical record from which Marx draws for the entirety of this chapter) of babies as young as 2 starting to work.
But the point that is sticking with me so far, and never fear, I shall elaborate later, is that Marx is not opposed to the development and use of machinery in place of human labour. He is very clear to distinguish the capitalistic use of machinery, alluding to the obvious point that there are other ways to organize socially and economically. But I’m in Parksville (on vacation), with the sun about to set, and the ambient sounds of the sea surrounding me. I ‘ll save the rest for later.
My friend Rob says let’s start a Marx reading group and I think this will be just the thing…