OERs, capitalism and social totality
January 30, 2011
Commentary by Stephen Downes

Joss Winn offers one rebuttal to David Wiley's capitalist analysis of OERs and Richard Hall hammers the point home. It's an unwrapping of some of the simple fictions that comprise the capitalist myth, including the idea that we get what we pay for (in fact, we get less than we pay for; the rest is profit) and the idea that that capitalism is the same as market economy. The two articles demonstrate part of the problem of the socialist position, though: I defy anyone to aver that they are easy reads, with clearly elucidated refutations of Wiley's position. Capitalism offers easy fictions, socialism offers difficult analysis, and therein lies the explanation for capitalism's ascendancy.

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