Звездный десант
Chapter 6
Oh,Idon’tmeanitcontradictedanythinghehadtoldusinclass;itwasjustentirelydifferentintone.Sincewhendoesashortcolonelcallarecruitprivate"comrade"?
Whenhewasplain"Mr.Dubois"andIwasoneofthekidswhohadtotakehiscoursehehardlyseemedtoseeme—exceptoncewhenhegotmesorebyimplyingthatIhadtoomuchmoneyandnotenoughsense.(SomyoldmancouldhaveboughttheschoolandgivenittomeforChristmas—isthatacrime?Itwasnoneofhisbusiness.)
Hehadbeendroningalongabout"value,"comparingtheMarxisttheorywiththeorthodox"use"theory.Mr.Duboishadsaid,"Ofcourse,theMarxiandefinitionofvalueisridiculous.Alltheworkonecarestoaddwillnotturnamudpieintoanappletart;itremainsamudpie,valuezero.Bycorollary,unskillfulworkcaneasilysubtractvalue;anuntalentedcookcanturnwholesomedoughandfreshgreenapples,valuablealready,intoaninediblemess,valuezero.Conversely,agreatchefcanfashionofthosesamematerialsaconfectionofgreatervaluethanacommonplaceappletart,withnomoreeffortthananordinarycookusestoprepareanordinarysweet.
"ThesekitchenillustrationsdemolishtheMarxiantheoryofvalue—thefallacyfromwhichtheentiremagnificentfraudofcommunismderives—andtoillustratethetruthofthecommon-sensedefinitionasmeasuredintermsofuse."
Duboishadwavedhisstumpatus.
