Re: philosophical/theoretic explanation

In a message dated 00-12-01 15:24:17 EST, richard@cyberjournal.org writes:

>       STARTS: "The need of a constantly expanding market for its
>      products chases the bourgeoisie over the entire surface of
>      the globe. It must nestle everywhere, settle everywhere,
>      establish connections everywhere.
>      
>  
>  Dear Ismail,
>  
>  If we look at the full quote (excerpted above) in isolation, I
>  don't see anything I would call philosophical or theoretical.
>  It is simply an objective observation of the operations
>  of capitalism and imperialism, which the British Empire
>  exemplified in Marx's day, and which is even more obvious
>  today.
>  
>  What did I miss?
>  
>  rkm

Dear Richard,

May I remind you that most theories are nothing but abstractions from 
observations, especially in social "sciences". We all observe more or less 
the same phenomena but most of us offer different explanations and reach 
different (objective?) conclusions. Take a look at Peter Drucker' s 
"Post-capitalist society" (which according to him is not a history of the 
future) and compare it with Warren Wagar's "A short history of the future", 
for example.

At some point,  we all have to take sides and in this matter I take Ismail' s 
side. Each time I reread "Communist Manifesto",  I get more impressed with 
the power of the abstraction of Marx and Engles from their observations. 
Theirs is a "structural model" that passed the test of time time and again 
more successfully than most other models I came across.

So, maybe, you shouldn't look at that excerpt in isolation.

Best,
Sabri