The System of Economic Contradictions – Chapter VI: Monopoly (Ben Burges’ Proudhon vs Marx Class)

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/pierre-joseph-proudhon-system-of-economical-contradictions-or-the-philosophy-of-poverty

Nothing to note yet… but who the fuck is M. Rossi??? Ok, he’s talking about Pellegrino Rossi.

“May my communistic friends forgive me! I should be less severe upon their ideas if I were not irreversibly convinced, in my reason and in my heart, that communism, republicanism, and all the social, political, and religious utopias which disdain facts and criticism, are the greatest obstacle which progress has now to conquer. Why will they never understand that fraternity can be established only by justice; that justice alone, the condition, means, and law of liberty and fraternity, must be the object of our study; and that its determination and formula must be pursued without relaxation, even to the minutest details?”

“Equality among men is produced by the rigorous and inflexible law of labor, the proportionality of values, the sincerity of exchanges, and the equivalence of functions, — in short, by the mathematical solution of all antagonisms.”

“Political economy begins with labor; it is developed by labor; and all that does not come from labor, falling into the domain of pure utility, — that is, into the category of things submitted to man’s action, but not yet rendered exchangeable by labor, — remains radically foreign to political economy.”

“”The capitalist,” they say, “has paid the laborers their daily wages at a rate agreed upon; consequently he owes them nothing.” To be accurate, it must be said that he has paid as many times one day’s wage as he has employed laborers, — which is not at all the same thing. For he has paid nothing for that immense power which results from the union of laborers and the convergence and harmony of their efforts; that saving of expense, secured by their formation into a workshop; that multiplication of product, foreseen, it is true, by the capitalist, but realized by free forces. Two hundred grenadiers, working under the direction of an engineer, stood the obelisk upon its base in a few hours; do you think that one man could have accomplished the same task in two hundred days? Nevertheless, on the books of the capitalist, the amount of wages is the same in both cases, because he allots to himself the benefit of the collective power. Now, of two things one: either this is usurpation on his part, or it is error. -What is Property: Chapter III.”

“society seeks the greatest possible gross product, and consequently the greatest possible population, because with it gross product and net product are identical. Monopoly, on the contrary, aims steadily at the greatest net product, even though able to obtain it only at the price of the extermination of the human race.”

“socialism is making us effeminate” – LOL

Ugh this chapter really went over my head…

[Video] Rudy Rochman – Does Afghanistan Have Secret Jews?

I’m iffy on Rudy Rochman. I think some of his work is important. He has hosted dialogues between Jews and Palestinians to find common ground. He is working on an upcoming film called, “We Were Never Lost” that explores the Jewish roots of various peoples that aren’t often thought about when discussing Jewish history and demographics, such as the Igbo Jews. And he has been part of an ongoing effort with people from Vision Magazine to decolonize Jewish self-understanding. However, both him and Vision Magazine have opinions on Zionism and the State of Israel that make me uncomfortable and none of their politics are anarchist from what I can tell. This video is an example of something he has done that does not sit well with me.

I have never researched Pashtun people and have never heard the claim that their ancestors were from the Land of Israel prior to their life in Afghanistan. After watching this video, reading the comments, and skimming wikipedia entries on the theories of Pashtun ancestry, the claim that Pashtun are Beni Israel seems to be controversial regarding the proof. That said, it also seems to be common for Pashtun to believe this story themselves. So Rochman isn’t inventing anything himself here.

Rochman is too eager to accept this story. His work on “We Were Never Lost” probably incentivizes this, amongst other incentives. While I don’t think his intentions are manipulative or anything like that, I think it is irresponsible to reinforce such a controversial claim.

On the bright side, this video encouraged me to become familiar with Pashtun people and do a little bit of narrowly-focused research. Reading the comments on it demonstrated to me how much I don’t know about these things. The antisemitism in the comments is as shitty to read as ever, but it is clear how Israel’s treatment of Palestinians motivates a lot of this. I try not to feel hopeless about the situation.

[Video] Henry Abramson – Where do the Words “Jew” and “Israel” Come From?

I was already aware of a lot of this. After all, I spent my childhood going to Hebrew school and weekly Shabbat services at a Reformed synagogue. I watched it just as a refresher after reading the comments on the Rudy Rochman video. I usually enjoy this guy’s Jewish History videos and this was no exception.

Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional – A Zapatista Response to “The EZLN Is NOT Anarchist”

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/ejercito-zapatista-de-liberacion-nacional-a-zapatista-response-to-the-ezln-is-not-anarchist

I don’t know what the original article this is in response to said, but I hope relations with the EZLN have been better since what seems to have been massively offensive.

Marxism and Native Americans – Edited by Ward Churchill

https://archive.org/details/MarxismAndNativeAmericans/page/n1/mode/1up