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  1. Remus Bleys
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    u2
  2. Rafiq
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    Also regarding the latifundia, I always thought that in fact it increased exponentially after the collapse of the Roman republic and the 'resolving' of this political problem, which I think also needs to be understood in the context of the fact that many Roman citizens simply had no work to do at all, which was the reason for the impetus for land reform by Caesar in the first place. The latifundia may have not existed at a scale that would have made it the basis for feudalism at this time, but if we're talking the centuries afterwards it certainly did.
  3. Rafiq
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    'decentralization' of power at the level of agricultural estates, and I say decentralized with caution because I simply mean that the degree that which these were 'controlled' was more direct, at local levels while at the same time operating in synchronicity with the wider mode of production. This gave rise to the collapse of the slave system, which was in place insofar as the people were themselves commodities that were exchanged, the basis of which became more obsolete throughout the course of the Roman empire (due to the decrease in importation of slaves).
  4. Rafiq
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    I am not aware of any archaeological evidence contesting the 'scale' of the latifundia as it concerns that this system would carry the embryonic basis of feudalism. Furthermore when we speak of contradictions it's not always necessarily a direct conflict between classes that is mediated politically, often times this conflict is facilitated in a bloodless way - through for example technological innovation. Regarding the emergence of feudalism and the contradictions which gave birth to it, my contention has always been that feudalism emerged with the increased
  5. Rafiq
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    I'm aware that in ancient Greece, it is a subject of debate regarding the degree that which slaves were responsible for agricultural labor. But what I am familiar with is the fact that virtually all other kinds of labor were done by slaves, insofar as it concerned the production of society. Still, it is simply not contested - the degree that which slavery was the basis for virtually the entire Roman productive relations, most especially agriculture. As far as what my knowledge permits,
  6. Rafiq
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    ultimately the power of Macedonia over other city states gave Greek history a determinate path, which would be succeeded by ancient Rome. I also suspect this is a simplistic generalization and could in fact be wrong (perhaps developments internal to other Greek city states made Macedonia's hegemony inevitable, necessary, that's an empirical question.) but more must be known (than I know at least - you may be more knowledgeable here) about the particular differences between the Greek city states, what they meant politically, and so on, to come to this conclusion.
  7. Rafiq
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    There isn't really a reason to believe that feudalism could have emerged out of ancient Greek society. A similar mode of production (to Greece's), emerged in ancient Italy, for perhaps similar reasons, but the particular characteristics of this mode of production in its course of development carried internal contradictions which would lead to feudalism. This was not inevitably the only possible historical trajectory path from the beginning, but this is what happened (and subsequently is necessary in understanding how present day society was shaped). My suspicion is that pre-Hellenistic Greece was indeterminate, could have evolved in various different ways, but that
  8. Rafiq
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    furthermore, I am not that well read regarding the particular differences between ancient Greece and Rome, whether they were qualitative or merely 'quantitative'. My instict tells me that the former is the case, i.e. but what should be noted is that the ancient Rome, unlike feudalism that succeeded it, did not develop out of contradictions internal to ancient Greece - ancient Greece's own internal historical contradictions did not give birth to ancient Roman society. So they could have been 'different', but not in the same way that feudalism and 'slave society' are different. Put it this way:
  9. Rafiq
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    When Marx and Engels spoke of 'slave society', they did not do this so as to brush off the particular characteristics of these societies, but to locate what was essential to them as it concerned historical movement. That is to say, the aspects of each according society as it concerns the basis of how those societies are changing, transforming into another. This is why emphasizing they were 'slave societies' is important, because as it concerns historical movement, the transformation at this level is what gave us feudalism. Other characteristics, whose internal antagonisms did not drive historical movement, are non-essential and
  10. Rafiq
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    But insofar as it concerns ancient Greece, I do not know how it could be said that these were not 'slave societies', with the essential basis of productive relations ultimately having their basis in relations of slavery, with, to my knowledge, other forms of labor simply existing moreso on the surface, that is, not constituting the fundamental relations of production. But this is an empirical matter - perhaps it is wrong, somehow. This does not make a difference for us, for that simply implies the relations of production were different. It should be emphasized, however that
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