Prof. Rubenstein wrote two things which I'd like to comment on:
... "private ownership of the means of
production" is the
"Marxist" definition of capitalism, and now insists that
I provide my own "marxist" definition! This list serve
is not the place for this discussion, which has already
occurred on the Capitalism talk pages. Suffice to say,
"private ownership of the means of production" is simply
not, in no way, the marxist or "a" marxist definition of
capitalism.
Googling the quoted definition easily shows that several sources
regard "private ownership of the means of production" as an
essential part of the "Marxist definition" of Capitalism.
And this mailing list *is* the right place to bring something
like this up. I, for one, would never have noticed this issue if
it hadn't been brought up here.
However, it's tricky, because the exact quoted phrase is not
used by a Marxist writer, but by an American college professor
PARAPHRASING the Marxists. The first reference below is some
lecture notes for a college course. It interprets "individual
ownership" as "private ownership of the means of production".
So the source for this would go something like:
* Professor Windbag of Westwind University at Turbyne, Indiana,
interprets Marxist writings as assailing "private ownership of
the means of production" as one of the chief evils of
Capitalism.
This provides the source: the ol' Windbag.
This clarifies that it's HIS interpretation.
http://faculty.washington.edu/wtalbott/phil332/trmarxII.htm
Oh, and his name is
WILLIAM J. TALBOTT
Associate Professor
Department of Philosophy
Box 353350
University of Washington
Ed Poor
(That wasn't so hard, now, was it? ;-)