"I couldn't agree more, Joel. I have been grappling with exactly the same sort of issue you raise- "back-talking the norm". I wonder if "alternative" simply encompasses "normative", just as Dumont outlined (thanks…"

"On July 29, 2011, Noam wrote:   “This idea is actually enfolded in the microeconomic framework; it insists that we choose all the time, but it also supposes that we are slaves to our preferences - one cannot act in any way other than…"

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"That's exactly right Joam-- for Marx, consumption is analyzed insofar as it forms a necessary part of the logic of production-- in the form, as he puts it, of either 'productive consumption' (consumption which reproduces the means of…"

"Elaine, your eco building example is marvelous, but I think it deserves a careful thought in respect to history. What it eventually illustrates is the directionality of historical time. This eco-technique is of course a repretition of traditional…"

"I'm glad you found the example interesting Joel, and when you said:   Without people who envision themselves as green and eco-savvy, there would be no market for eco-friendly housing in the first place. So, not only are the ideologies of…"

"On July 28, 2011, Steve Rosenberg wrote:   “what is key about capitalism, for Marx, and for a host of other analysts, is not labour and production as such, but a particular kind of labour (commodified labour) and a particular kind of…"

"(See below) I took that to mean the sort of consumption that we typically find in capitalist societies, for instance, buying things to own privately, buying things cheap to sell on for a profit or buying things cheaply then more things to replace…"

"Re. your comment: "Capitalism is founded not upon labor and production (though perhaps on specific modes of labor relations and modes of production). Indeed, labor and production predate capitalism. What is perhaps unique to capitalism is the…"

"On July 28, 2011, Noam wrote:   “Also, far from limiting the richness of hitorical description, I believe that this approach affords a multilayered view, in which in every present we can see various time modalities coexisting…"

"I feel the same as Noam, as quite a lot of extra points have been raised which I am ruminating on, but I want to quickly respond to keep things fresh.   I find this Marxist perspective enthralling: Of course there would be no contradiction…"

"My point is that by describing a historical reality solely in terms of "is" and "is not", as Joel suggests, we lose the essential element of historical view. A minimal condition for such a view is a "before" and an…"

"I am trying to catch up with the discussion, after being away for some time. I am not sure I can address all the important issues that were raised, but I want to add one more perspective to the central question of the person. What can complement the…"

"On June 10, Noam wrote:   “The Ghanaian student is already part of a capitalist system due to the simple fact that he uses modern money, yet for him it is still a sort of a foreign presence.”   Do you have specific information…"

"Picking up on parts of each of these responses, I'd like to come back to the freemen if it's worth keeping the thread of this example. When Keith mentioned the notion that as part of the dialectic process, an idea can be defined as that…"

"Thanks for the clarification, Steve. I agree also that you and Noam are pursuing a line of inquiry that does not come easily to me, while I recognize its originality and interest. The comparison with the Tea Party movement is a bit naughty, but…"