The money delusion: Capitalist wealth versus real wealth
LE3 .A278 2011
2011
Sacouman, Jim
Acadia University
Master of Arts
Masters
Sociology
This research analyzes the issue of money in capitalist society and the possibilities for its transcendence in a socialist transition process. Utilizing secondary sources, this research views money as a manifestation of the social relations of production – the essential relations that constitute social life. Through a Marxist theoretical analysis, the practical cases of Cuba (1959-65) and contemporary Venezuela serve as possible attempts to transcend money. The research concludes that class-based exchange-relations between human beings, which give rise to money, must be eliminated through the development of a communist consciousness via practical collective activity. This consciousness allows each member of society the ability to recognize their profound connection to all other members of society and the natural environment they share. Negating the economistic conception of value that money implies, human society as a conscious whole is able to engage in a mode of production that is rooted in and sustains self-emancipation.
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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:211