i~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~	Err	sigkill.dk	70
i                       THE ROLE OF THE BLENDER	Err	sigkill.dk	70
i                       VIEWED AS MARXIST PRAXIS	Err	sigkill.dk	70
i~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~	Err	sigkill.dk	70
i	Err	sigkill.dk	70
i# Preface	Err	sigkill.dk	70
i	Err	sigkill.dk	70
iI am fond of my kitchen blender.  It provides satisfactory smoothies	Err	sigkill.dk	70
iand other high-entropy foodstuffs with a minimum of fuss. During	Err	sigkill.dk	70
iblender-related discussion with friends, I came upon the realisation	Err	sigkill.dk	70
itthat the blender has certain properties resembling (either by analogy	Err	sigkill.dk	70
ior metaphor) some of the concepts I am trying to grasp from Marxist	Err	sigkill.dk	70
ittheory.  In the following I will elaborate this view.	Err	sigkill.dk	70
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iNote that I am a novice regarding much of this material.  Some	Err	sigkill.dk	70
ibackground reading is linked below; you can check my inferences if you	Err	sigkill.dk	70
idoubt them.	Err	sigkill.dk	70
i	Err	sigkill.dk	70
0Marx and Engels: Manifesto of the Communist Party	quux-gopher-mirror/wiretap.area.com/Library/Classic/manifesto.txt	infinitelyremote.com	70
0Marx: Wage-labor and Capital	/quux-gopher-mirror/etext.org/pub/Politics/Essays/Marx/1849-Wage-Labor.and.Capital	infinitelyremote.com	70
1Lenin: The State and Revolution	/quux-gopher-mirror/etext.org/pub/Politics/Essays/Lenin/1917-State.and.Revolution	infinitelyremote.com	70
1Various texts	/bithub/read_text	bitreich.org	70
i	Err	sigkill.dk	70
i# The blender as an instrument of labour	Err	sigkill.dk	70
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iMarxist thought is based on the idea that the means of production	Err	sigkill.dk	70
idictates the structure of society.  As the means of production change,	Err	sigkill.dk	70
iparticularly through technological development, so too must society.	Err	sigkill.dk	70
iMarx would never claim that a Communist society could function with	Err	sigkill.dk	70
itthe productivity possible under medieval technology.	Err	sigkill.dk	70
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iA blender fits this model. Is is the result of mass production, made	Err	sigkill.dk	70
ipossible through the productive forces marshalled under capitalism.	Err	sigkill.dk	70
iIt dramatically eases the productivity of preparing certain foodstuffs	Err	sigkill.dk	70
i(e.g. smoothies).  Although a blender as a physical object is merely	Err	sigkill.dk	70
ian instrument of kitchen labour (i.e. capital), it exhibits a	Err	sigkill.dk	70
ittransformative influence on the means of kitchen labour.	Err	sigkill.dk	70
i	Err	sigkill.dk	70
i# Classless kitchen	Err	sigkill.dk	70
i	Err	sigkill.dk	70
iThe blender is a great equalizer - any distinct ingredients added will	Err	sigkill.dk	70
ieventually form a single homogeneous mass.  Although at the molecular	Err	sigkill.dk	70
ilevel, the original ingredients are still present and still serve a	Err	sigkill.dk	70
ipurpose, they are no longer distinct from the whole, and do not claim	Err	sigkill.dk	70
ior are awarded distinct positions.	Err	sigkill.dk	70
i	Err	sigkill.dk	70
i# The deprofessionalisation of cooking	Err	sigkill.dk	70
i	Err	sigkill.dk	70
iMarx and Engels believed that the state as an oppressive instrument	Err	sigkill.dk	70
iwould be destroyed through the de-empowerment of its bureaucrats.	Err	sigkill.dk	70
iThey would be reduced to merely carrying out rote administrative	Err	sigkill.dk	70
ittasks based on written procedures, which any literate member of	Err	sigkill.dk	70
isociety would be able to do. Lenin supports this view in e.g. *The	Err	sigkill.dk	70
iState and Revolution*.	Err	sigkill.dk	70
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iThe blender is very similar.  I am a middling cook, while my wife is	Err	sigkill.dk	70
ifar more competent.  Yet there is no great difference in our results	Err	sigkill.dk	70
iwhen using the blender, as long as we put in the same ingredients.	Err	sigkill.dk	70
iWhile a bad blender produces bad results, we have a very good blender,	Err	sigkill.dk	70
iand it produces consistently high quality results.  The need for skill	Err	sigkill.dk	70
ihas been essentially eliminated, except for coming up with the initial	Err	sigkill.dk	70
irecipes in the first place.  This has resulted in a democratisation of	Err	sigkill.dk	70
ikitchen power, as being able to operate the blender is not limited to	Err	sigkill.dk	70
ia specific distinguished class (i.e. my wife).	Err	sigkill.dk	70
.