I bought a new book by Mr. Karatani, whom I respect
. It's brand new too. When I saw the advertisement in the newspaper, it was "decided to reprint", so I bought it in a hurry, but it was the first edition.
Mr. Karatani has been reading since "The Center of Possibilities with Marx", so we have known each other for about 40 years (although Mr. Karatani doesn't know me). He is a practical thinker, including his involvement in community money. I'm glad you're doing well.
I learned again after reading Wikipedia that Mr. Karatani was born in Amagasaki (laughs). Kansai people have interesting ideas. Well, it's a pity that I graduated from the University of Tokyo.
I learned from Kozo Uno, who retired from the University of Tokyo in 1958. Certainly, I think that thinking from the exchange process rather than the production process is similar to Kozo Uno (I heard that Kozo Uno was born in Kurashiki City, lol).
Kozo Uno ``established economics as a science separate from historical materialism and socialist ideology. I have never thought of myself as a socialist in the broadest sense of the word.” (Wikipedia)" ("50 Years of Capital" was published in 1970). would have been necessary as
I have read several of Kozo Uno's works. Easy to understand is easy to understand. In comparison, Samezo Kuruma's Theory of Value Forms and Theory of Exchange Processes sounds sophisticated but is very difficult to understand. It's not that easy to understand is good.
In that sense, Mr. Karatani's work is easy to understand at first glance. But, like Kozo Uno, he is profound. It is a talent to write deep things in an easy-to-understand manner. Partly because I read this book too quickly (I read too hard and my stomach hurt), it was hard to follow the gist of it. The reason why there are many repetitions may be because it is a serialized article (?). (I couldn't read that part from the "afterword")
Modes of Exchange
Mr. Karatani divides the economic (?) modes of exchange into four categories.
There are four modes of exchange.
A reciprocity (gift and return)
B obedience and protection (capture and redistribution)
C commodity exchange (money and goods)
D A high-dimensional recovery
< p> I came to think in this way because the Marxist view, which finds the economic base in the mode of production (productive forces and relations of production), often fails to explain well, and has been criticized in various ways. This is because, in the end, the very idea of an economic base was rejected. (P.1-2)
In ordinary Marxist economics (not "Marxian economics"), the value of commodities is found in "labor" (labor theory of value). Then, by focusing on the production process, which is the site where the labor is done, value is created there, and who acquires that value and how to distribute it. Then we read in surplus value, the alienation of labor, and so on. Class exploitation is explained from the relations of production (who owns the means of production, who owns the labor, etc.), and from the contradiction between productive forces and relations of production, we aim to abolish labor relations (capitalist production). It is said that Marx gave priority to productive capital, that is, industrial capital, and criticized commercial capital such as mercantilism and heavy metalism. Mr. Karatani is quite different.
These four modes of exchange are not new. It's been there since the time of Morgan (Morgan), who was studying late Marx. There is also something close to it in historical materialism (also mentioned in this book). In addition, the results of cultural anthropology are added to the "four modes of exchange" that form the basis of this book.
The Labor Theory of Value
The notion that ``labor creates value'' was not invented by Marx. As far as I know, Adam Smith argued against Mercantilism. Marx and others put it in the form that "workers" create value and capital (family) exploits it.
This is where it gets tricky. Because you can't see the value. Typing on the computer at work at my company and typing on the computer as a hobby in my room are almost the same work. Do my hobbies create "value"? Is there a difference in value between the one character I enter and the one the Dentsu president enters? Is it different for me to plow the field than for a horse or a tiller to plow the field?
A painting that Picasso painted in 10 minutes will sell for a reasonable price. The picture I drew in a day is only "garbage (waste)". Icons drawn by children with a mouse are sometimes traded at a great price.
How do you think about invisible "value"? When exchanging the rice of the mountain people for the fish of the sea people, the rice contains the labor of the mountain people, and the fish contains the labor of the sea people. However, in that exchange (mode of exchange A. Whether there is historically a "barter" or not), the "existence of value" does not appear. Even in Mr. Karatani's mode of exchange B (for example, the exchange of annual tax and farmers' protection), the "existence of value" does not appear. However, when rice is converted into money and you buy fish with that money, the money that mediates the exchange becomes the "existence of value." The illusion that the value is expressed in money, the illusion that money has such "power" arises. Marx does not follow this logic. Rather, I think Marx emphasized that "money is just one commodity."
Marx saw a society shifting from mercantilism to industrial capitalism and then to financial capitalism based on "credit." Financial capital does not create “things”. And now, it seems that production has changed (replaced) from tangible "things" to intangible services and digitized "data" or "information."
In the first place, it is not the production of things itself that brings about the increase in the value of capital, but the differentiation that it brings. In other words, production under capitalism is rather the production of difference. In that sense, the difference between merchant capital and industrial capital is not decisive. That's what Marx thought. (P.297-298)
In this way, it seems epoch-making that the object of industrial capital has changed from things to information and from tangible to intangible. But it does not go beyond what Marx's "Capital" showed, namely, the realization that it is constant 'differentiation' that enables the proliferation of capital. (P.298)
A prominent example of "differentiation" is "branding." The value of the product itself, or even something with the same use value, can be increased by adding a “brand name” to it. In other words, it will be "sold". If the price is the same, they will choose the one with the "brand name", and even if it is a little (?) more expensive, they will buy the item (product) with the "brand name". Because you can get the status symbol "I have a bag of XX". This is not what differentiates the bag. It is a differentiation between "people who have XX bags" and "people who do not have XX bags". If "XX bag" becomes popular (it has various names such as fashion, trend, etc.), many people will have "XX bag" (standardization). And the minority who "doesn't have anything with XX characters" is discriminated against.
It is also popular to call this ability to create value (profit) "rarity". Air and water were not only necessary for survival, they were freely available to everyone. A hunter-gatherer lifestyle provided free clothing, food, and housing. But when they are no longer available, they become 'rarity'. The cause may be intentional such as "enclosure" or "overcrowding" due to urbanization. Water can no longer be drawn from rivers and wells, and will be tapped. You cannot live in a city without paying your water bill. "Branding" can also be said to be "rarity" that it is "not something that anyone can get". Water is also branded these days.
When you become "water comes out of the tap", there is no need to draw water. It means that it is "easier" and at the same time "depends on the water supply". And that is to lose "ability and technology to draw water (dig a well)". The ``obedience and protection'' brought about by Mr. Karatani's exchange mode B is also the loss of ``the ability to protect oneself'' by being protected. Medical specialization is about losing the ability to take care of one's own health. The school system loses the ability to learn (Ivan Ilyich, Ideas to Live: Anti=Education/Technology/Life" by Ivan Ilyich, Fujiwara Shoten, see). In other words, scarcity also creates “mode of exchange C”. It can be said that what we pay for is the "created illusion/phenomenon" of "rarity". If I follow Ilyichi's example, it will lead to the looting of "commons" and the loss of what Mr. Karatani calls "associations." Associations are the people's "power to live" itself.
It may be said that Iriichi expresses the same “illusion/phenomenon” in a “subjective” manner, while Karatani expresses it in an “objective” manner.
Fetishism
The Queen Elizabeth Cup will be held tomorrow. I'm not interested in horse racing at all, but maybe tens of thousands of people will gather and tens of billions of yen will move. I can't imagine "10 billion yen". I can't even imagine "thousands". It is said that "125 million people" live in Japan, but the number is "abstract (fantasy, imagination, fancy)." You can't see the reality of it. "Several tens of billions of yen money" is also "abstract (fantasy, imagination, fantasy)". I don't have a check, but I can easily write "10,000,000,000 yen" on paper. If I were the prime minister, I would be able to put my seal on the budget proposal of "207,596,400,000,000 yen" (or not). You can also ask the Printing Bureau of the Ministry of Finance to print banknotes for you. But they have no "substance". It can be said that the illusion is producing profits.
In the end, the person who made the money can enjoy the illusion that an intangible person has created an intangible value. Classical economists sought the basis (substance) of "labor" for this "substantial", that is, the "(exchange) value of commodities." However, no matter how much you tinker with the product, you will not find "value that can be exchanged for money (equivalent)". You can't even see "labor". I can somehow understand that it is "man-made (artifact)". But it is very difficult to express it logically(J. Mono "Coincidence and Inevitability "reference).
It can only be demonstrated in the "exchange of goods". That is what Marx calls "physical phenomena". And what Mr. Karatani calls “strength.”
When products are exchanged as commodities, Marx called the "spiritual" power generated there "fetishism". it is not visible.
Therefore, Lukács named it ``relationships between people appearing as relationships between things,'' or ``reification.'' You can see things. Walras called it "utility" and quantified it. I can see the numbers. Or rather, it seems to be visible. Lukács expressed things in the “objective” direction, while Walras defined utility in the “subjective” direction.
Nomads and Settlement
In nomadic life, people moved together to get what they needed. Also, since I could not store what I had acquired, I redistributed it equally on the spot. (P.80)
However, there are limits to self-sufficiency in a small community. (P.131)
At first glance, it seems like a matter of course. But that's because we live in a "scarcity" society. Because we live in a society inhabited by people who cannot live without a commodity or exchange. "Necessity is the mother of invention", the idea that there is a cause and a result (causal relationship). Just imagine it. A society without commodities, a society without "exchange" is everywhere. Are children exchanging anything with their parents? If we call it "exchange," where "children obey their parents and parents protect them," then we can say that "there is no society without exchange."
Food was "always/already". "If you don't work, you won't be able to eat", "Catch fish and pick nuts are also labor", are just projecting the culture of the society in which you live onto other cultures and past history. . Whether the food is "naturally produced" or produced by an industrial society, "there is."
In a society that is said to be uncivilized, the small percentage of what is now called "working time" (distinguished from daily life time) surprises modern people. Also, it seems that there were very few working days in Japan before the Edo period.
I don't know if "needs" is "Chinese", "Buddhist term", or "translation". At the very least, it seems that it was not until the modern era that it was brought to the forefront. It would not be wrong to seek the factor of necessity in "settlement", or in "loss of common" or "collapse of association". However, it is necessary to be aware of "because it is so now" or "because I think so".
In other words, Freud's "primitive father" is nothing more than a projection of the later patriarchs and kings into the previous generation. In Nietzsche's words, it is a "perspective perversion of cause and effect" (Genealogy of Morals). (P.84)
How did Mr. Karatani feel when he quoted these words? I don't know what Nietzsche meant when he wrote this, but I think that Mr. Karatani meant "mistaking cause and effect" and "putting the cart before the horse." If you don't have the self-awareness of "because you think so", you will soon be caught up in "causal theory itself". The causal theory that ``the giraffe's neck elongated to eat leaves in high places'' is rampant. Kinji Imanishi said that the wings of bats until they could fly would never have been advantageous in the struggle for existence.
Unsettled people often deliberately limit their fertility. (…) The combination of vigorous exercise and a protein-rich red meat diet also delays the onset of puberty, makes ovulation irregular, and accelerates menopause. (P.81)
There is a quote from James Scott's Anti-Grain Human History. It's just what you've seen, and in fact the proportion of animal protein in primitive societies is far from high. On the contrary, there is also a prejudice of "barbarians". "Oedipus complex" and "father killing" are also "only projections of the previous generation".
When you say "intentionally limiting fertility", do you mean "consciously"? To Scott, it means 'it seemed so' and 'it seemed so'.
Unconsciousness
In short, settlement has brought about an 'organic' state. It was then that the death drive to return to an inorganic state appeared. (P.94)
What lies behind consciousness (unconsciousness or structure) cannot be conscious. Of course. It is itself a variant of the "divine" and "religious". Mr. Karatani emphasizes the existence of that "divine thing" = "power". And it's not something that can be "logically proven". Because "logic" is consciousness itself.
You could say that the thermostat turns on the air conditioner because it thinks it's hot. Or maybe the tips of your toes curl up because your toes think it will keep them warm, or maybe the plants grow towards the sun because they believe they should. Indeed, there are many cultures, including Pidahan and Wari, that use the phrase that beliefs exist in animals, clouds, trees, etc., as a means of conversation. But most of the tribes I lived with and researched were not literally meant to hold such beliefs. (Daniel L. Everett, Language Origins” Hakuyosha, p.415)
Rather, it is not the people who are said to be “modern people” or “cultured people” who believe that. Uka
The bureaucracy is a top-down system, and it cannot exist in a society where the principle of reciprocity is strong. People are very independent and dislike being forced to obey orders from above. (P.126)
``Liberty, equality, democracy, and independence'' are also Western logics. Japan didn't have it 200 years ago, and many countries still don't. Then, is there such a thing in "Western developed countries" including Japan? Are you and I equal? Men and women, adults, children and the elderly, the disabled and the able-bodied...will these inequalities be overcome someday? You can think, "Even if it doesn't happen now, it will happen someday." The day may come when we can understand the origin of the universe and the ultimate truth. However, neither you nor I will be there at that time (probably). It seems to me that "the day will come when the unconscious becomes conscious." , which is exactly what it is).
Humans see and think in cultural codes. It is inevitable. I think in Japanese. Japanese is Japanese culture. Both vocabulary and grammar are entwined with Japanese culture. I can't think without going through Japanese culture.
Realization of Communism (Mode of Exchange D)
I apologize to Mr. Karatani, but I will skip the discussion in the middle (please read this book). This is the sentence at the end of the text before the "note".
Then, is it not possible to abandon state and capital, that is, to abandon B and C in terms of modes of exchange? Can not. For the very act of trying to lift them restores them. The only possibility is to form a society based on A. but it stays local. It is because it is suppressed by the power of B and C and cannot spread. Therefore, it is only the restoration of A in higher dimensions, the power of D, that makes it possible.
However, unlike A, D is not something that can be realized by a person's desire or planning. It comes, so to speak, from the other side. (P.395)
Therefore, I would like to say one last thing. There will be many wars and crises in the years to come, the crises that B and C will inevitably bring. However, because of this, D as ``recovery of A in a higher dimension'' will definitely come. (P.396)
Five years ago, I would have threw out this book with the judgment that "I can't help but give up, but I should abandon the revolution." I guess. I'm giving up Probably 30 years ago. No, maybe even earlier. But I couldn't give up, and I couldn't give up.
Even if you don't "desire or plan" it, if it "comes" from the other side, then any effort is useless, and you just have to wait. It will end up. I guess this is the "state of denial".
Where does the anger against injustice, inequality, and resistance to inconvenience come from? The feeling arises from somewhere deep, sometimes conscious, sometimes unconscious. It's hard to make your frustration conscious. There are various stages and steps to be conscious of "I'm hungry" as "I'm hungry" in Japanese. In order to convey this to someone, it is necessary to put it in words such as Japanese (including sign language), but like in novels and dramas, it is possible to say, "I am hungry, I want to eat something, I wonder if something happened." I don't think I think about letters and sounds, such as "I should make something." Most of the time there are no words. I rarely think verbatim, "My head is itchy, I need to scratch my head, I need to move my hand." After moving my hand (after the fact), I think, "I scratched my head because it was itchy." If you ask me, "What are you doing?", I can only answer yes.
It is clear that anger against injustice, inequality, inconvenience, dissatisfaction, etc. is "culturally influenced" when it comes to Japanese. But in the first place, it's probably "each person" that they "spring up". I think you and I, Mr. Karatani, Mr. Kishida, are different. It is arrogant to say that they are "universal or eternal desires and hopes of mankind", and to say that "you should think so too" is imposition (compulsion) and self-contradiction. Simply put, it's "enforcement of liberty". In Sartre's words, it means 'condemned to freedom', and in Foucault's words, it means 'forced sexuality'. Conversely, sexuality is neither repressed nor freedom is hindered.
Mr. Karatani seems to be paraphrasing the impossibility of intention (planning) for sexual liberation and freedom.
You can't say, "This is the mode of exchange for the period B (from what year to what year) in country A." You can't say, "There was A, then it disappeared, and then there was B...". The only reason I think it was done on purpose is because my 'ego' thinks so in the culture in which I am currently (in which I grew up).
What do you do when "God's voice" (which is often "your own voice") is not heard by everyone? To resort to violence is to infringe on the other person's "freedom." What do you mean by "talk until the other party is satisfied"? But isn't "listening/not listening" also "freedom" of the other party? Therefore, "self (subject, ego)" is in trouble.
Democracy has "rules (regulations, decisions, or stipulations)" that are the premise of democracy. For example, "majority vote". When there are multiple (three or more) people, it is to make the opinions of more people the overall opinion. It doesn't matter if the decision is "right" or not. A majority vote consists of either ``disregarding correctness'' or ``deciding the majority opinion is correct''. But how is the “majority rule” determined? It is not impossible that it was "unanimous", but it is also possible that it was decided by violence. If it is violence, then that violence is the original sin. It is the sacrifices made at that time that have made democracy possible. People who support majority voting may separate themselves from those who do not and "create society." At that time, the "universality (or absoluteness)" of "democracy" will be lost. That society, too, will be fraught with the possibility of schism.
I still don't know what to do. And I keep thinking that this question should be solved. Weak I can't fight, I can't keep talking to people, I'm silent. And behind the scenes, I've lived while murmuring resentment, saying, "I'm sorry," "I'm lonely," and "I wish everyone would die." After all, Mr. Karatani seems to be telling me what I can do but keep silent.
Now that I think about it, Mr. Karatani might have saved me even though I couldn't understand Marx.
Mr. Karatani's words like a prophet (a prophet?) or "a kind of testament" that seems to have abandoned the labor theory of value (as did Kozo Uno). Is not it). Words such as "coming from the other side", that is, "giving up on human will", may come from the current social situation in Japan and the international situation.
I'm starting to lose track of what I've learned, whether it's what Mr. Karatani taught me or not. However, I believe that Mr. Karatani must have been wondering what he was wondering while doing Marxian economics, and he must have thought it through.
Society and Humans, I and Thou
I repeat, environmental crises, such as we find today, are the result of modes of exchange C in human societies. Infiltration is the result of changing the relationship between humans and nature. As a result, nature, which had hitherto been the "other", became a mere material object. (P.40-41)
However, after the clan society, that is, in the national society, the anima, which is ``thou'', is transcendent as a god, while nature and others are simply controlled and controlled. It became "it" to be manipulated. At the same time, the position of the king was also absolutized. (P.153)
Is 'thou' and 'other' different? If you say "you (thou)" and "the other (others)", the former may have a strong nuance of "same as yourself" and the latter "not yourself". However, both exist as opposites of "I". Then, when "I" becomes the "subject", the others become "objects". Even "anima, animus" can be thought of as an "unconscious personality" to "his conscious I (Ich)". In other words, it is a conflict between the conscious and the unconscious. Consciousness is nothing but the ego. At the very least, it is the "ego" that is "aware of oneself (consciousness)".
Without the ego (subject), there is no object or other. No, the ego (subject) creates the object and the other. Based on this, how about considering "thou" and "others"?
It is sometimes said that Japanese does not have a subject. "Subject" (either "nominative" or subject of action) is a grammatical concept in Indo-European languages, so it does not exist in Japanese. Rather, it is established by the "opponent". In India, the opposite of Atman is Brahman. And "Bonga Nyoichi" is considered ideal. In Europe, such an idea seems to be thin. From the beginning, I feel that God appears to be different from himself.
What happens when differentiation (rarity) disappears? )is.
In a world where you can get anything freely (for free), a world where scarcity is gone, "difference" won't make a profit. The fact that A and B are different does not create "inequality". Can people be satisfied in such a world? Some people can. 3,000 years ago, when Lao Tzu said, "Know enough", was there no differentiation or rarity? The term itself may have been coined later. It is also possible that the interpretation reflects the current culture (the era in which the interpreter lives). Even so, as long as people living in the present age think, ``Human beings are not easily satisfied,'' or ``Human desires are infinite,'' it is impossible to ``know contentment.'' you can't. Regardless of the post-war period, Japan is not dissatisfied with the lack of things (food). I think there are many people who say, "I can't buy what I want to eat today" because I don't have money. , or worry about "what we will eat 100 years from now" (that risk is the product).
Recently Japaneseized "subscription", but you can only watch one movie or read one manga at a time. (although it is possible to I like books, but I don't really like reading. Rather, I like "buying" and "owning". That way, you'll have more and more books that you haven't read. My friend likes "reading". And I'm throwing away all the books I've read. What do you think. I think he's much better at "reading" than I am.
I live in a society where ownership is more important than "using and consuming." "Using and consuming" is a "society that assumes ownership". It is said to be a "consumer society" or a "disposable society", but it is also an "accumulation society". The more “products and data” there are in society, the more books I have (unread) at home, the smaller I become.
However, like a fox that borrows the authority of a tiger, I have a sense of superiority in a ``poor country'', saying that ``Japan has so much to throw away'' and ``it has technology (knowledge)''. Is subscription a “break away” from that feeling, or is it an “extension” of that feeling?
I think it could be both. In the same way that hoarding money is a "cessation of consumption," the shift from the production of goods to the production of services (data) means that "ownership" is changing. Things such as "producing, buying, throwing away" are "conscious actions" (basically, unconscious actions are not accompanied by responsibility). Instead of "I can't abandon the subject", it may be possible that the "meaning of the object" will change. "It comes, so to speak, from the other side." It is because the "ego" is in a place where nothing can be done. Will that become "hope" (Bloch, p.380-)?