On May 5th, 1818, Karl Marx, hero of the international proletatiat, was born. His revolution of Socialist theory reverberates throughout the world carries on to this day, in increasing magnitude. Every passing day, he is vindicated. His analysis of Capitalism, development of the theory of Scientific Socialism, and advancements on dialectics to become Dialectical Materialism, have all played a key role in the past century, and have remained ever-more relevant throughout.
He didn’t always rock his famous beard, when he was younger he was clean shaven!
Some significant works:
Economic & Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844
The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte
Critique of the Gotha Programme
Manifesto of the Communist Party (along with Engels)
And, of course, Capital Vol I-III
Interested in Marxism-Leninism, but don’t know where to start? Check out my “Read Theory, Darn it!” introductory reading list!
The technical constraints were also constraints on the Mode of Production. The Roman Aqueducts were largely slave driven like the rest of Roman society, not through commodity production and the M-C-M’ circuit affording it. Rome also extracted vast rents from the colonies.
Elements of the old exist in the new, and elements of the new existed in the old, yes. However, Capitalism as an encompassing system is only a few hundred years old.
The aqueducts were gravity driven. That was cumulative value add. They were an early form of automation.
Meanwhile, the cotton gin was slave driven. It still set off a rapid economic expansion in the southern US which mapped neatly to Marxist presumption of capital accumulation.
Industrialization as a global economic enterprise kicked off a few hundred years ago. The human propensity to accumulate wealth and the methods of compounding returns have always been with us.
The creation of the aqueducts. I am aware of how they functioned technically.
Again, though, I think you’re either conflating Capitalism with accumulation in general, or trying to make the argument that I don’t think accumulation existed prior to Capitalism. I’m not really sure where we disagree, to be honest, I’m not sure what point you’re making.