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Can we stop criticizing capitalism by just going "i don't understand it, so it's stupid"? Not only is it not helpful, it's fucking humiliating. https://twitter.com/AliceAvizandum/status/1252300635975843841
The truth is that these contracts made in advance are completely rational within the bounds of capitalism and carry certain rational qualities that even transcend capitalism, leading toward communism.
Within capitalism, the disjointed production and distribution times of the various commodities (or capitals) makes it necessary for ideal purchase to take place in advance. As a rough example...
If, due the nature of my own production, i need $75 worth of X material every 3 months, and you produce $50 worth of X material every month, then there is a conflict here. i need 75 when only 50 will be available. Unless, we arrange prior for some 25 to be reserved, etc, for me.
So, we sign a contract. $25 worth of X material is kept from the previous month, $50 worth is kept from this month, and i am to buy the entire thing on the day our contract is settled. This isn't irrational. It's just a necessary consequence of differing production times, etc.
You may also sign a contract to reserve something if they are in limited supply, if the seller wants to know how much of a market there is for such a thing, etc. If you've pre-ordered anything, you've basically done the same thing, purchased something ideally before getting it.
Notice how Marx didn't resort to just saying "It's stupid made-up magic bullshit!" when discussing this same topic. Here's just one example from chapter 3 of Capital, volume 1.
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch03.htm#S3b
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch03.htm#S3b
There are other reasons that the futures market is necessary for modern capitalism, but this is already enough for us to dismiss the idea that it's just nonsense. Capitalism has developed due to material processes, not by people playing make-believe.
What else is missed by this flagrant dismissal is the progressive element held within this process. Yes, these things are a pretty chaotic mess right now, but that does not mean that it is all wrong. In fact, they represent a pretty radical step towards a communist economy.
These contracts & regulatory measures actually involve a move closer to massive, global, economic planning. By organizing production/distribution ideally ahead of time like this, the capitalists are creating the conditions for the most forward-looking, coordinated, book-keeping.
We are talking about some of humanity's largest organizations taking account for supply & demand months in advance, allocating resources to where they are necessary before those resources are even produced, insuring themselves against the whims of nature and production, etc.
The progressive character of this advanced book-keeping is something also talked about by Marx seriously and without petty squabbling. Capital, volume 2, chapter 6.
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1885-c2/ch06.htm#1.2
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1885-c2/ch06.htm#1.2
That this process is so violent now is merely a sign of it's capitalist character. A sudden drop in demand for a product would not be such a crisis in a communist economy, and the ability to tell demand is shrinking would actually be a great thing.
Negative growth in demand is not necessarily bad. It is just bad for the valorization of capital. We should be attacking the horror of capitalism, not the attempts to plan it. The problem with the futures market is the "market," not that it is forward-looking.
