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California State University, Dominguez Hills
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Soka University Japan - Transcend Art and Peace
Created: January 27, 2003
Latest Update: January 27, 2003
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

Capitalism, Commodification, and Surplus Value

Site Copyright: Jeanne Curran and Susan R. Takata and Individual Authors, January 2003.
"Fair use" encouraged.

late capitalism running after commodification

• Now, what on earth do you suppose I meant by this painting and title? Well, actually I drew it in a fun-filled moment at Art's Deli when my brother-in-law hadn't quite decided on whether he just didn't want to eat, or while he was checking out the quality of the corned beef, or when he was finally sitting down long enough to tell the waitress (who had graciously come by three times) hat she didn't know what she was doing, since after all, she wasn't from New York. Gee, I bet that surprised her!. It seemed like a good time to draw. And, needless to say commodification came to mind, and all the complaints that go with it. Then I thought how we couldn't get my brother-in-law to sit still for more than two minutes at a time, how I kept trying to crawl under the table with my pet cheetah, and my husband's look of absolute dismay because he couldn't think where he should run. Suddenly, I got it. It was funny. There we all were, properly shepherded by Pat. Oops, no, Pat wasn't there that night. Well, so we were unchaperoned, and probably running in more directions than our family of cats, while my brother-in-law complained that it wasn't Cantor's. We have a word for this in Yiddish: OY !!!!
  Link on clouds to start animation.

• Animations by Pat Grugan Links checked on January 27, 2003.

  An Animation of the Surplus Theory of Value This is a delightful animated cartoon, to which I was alerted by the Kapital Gang, a listserv. It is so beautifully done that even little ones should be able to understand it. Then you need to explain to them that we must treat each human, including all those who work for a living, with respect and dignity. Don't forget to add that, or your little ones may grow up thinking capitalism is a monster. The enemy is not capitalism. The enemy is us and the specific ways we have embedded capitalism in our lifeworlds.

• Now I'd like to see someone create a third cartoon for the animation. A leader who has digested Habermas and Mia Pia Lara and Paulo Freire, and lots of other theorists we consider. How could that leader transform the capitalist world presented here to a more just social world?

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