THE capitals of the world seem to be sounding different. Apparently, there has been a shift from ‘methodological individualism’ to ‘methodological nationalism’. It is now less about free market and competition and more about protecting political and economic boundaries. Those both on the right and neo-left who were not able to see the State in the mystified neoclassical imagery of market are taken aback by the entry of Trump coming loud and clear talking about tariffs, illegal immigrants, jobs of their own workers and industrial policy.

ONCE again, a moral appeal of extending working hours to ninety hours a week has been proposed by L&T chairman resonating the need for extending working week to 70 hours proposed by Narayan Murthy last year. Workers should work more and preferably on Sundays to achieve higher growth and be on the top of the world. This is being floated when India is one of the most unequal countries in the world. Capitalists always vouch for higher efforts from the workers while being silent on the issue of return.

CAPITALIST accumulation entails a combination of waged and unwaged work involved in production and social reproduction. Production of goods and services must be supported by a process of social reproduction that refers to producing the labour power required for production.Capitalism is defined as a system of generalised commodity production which includes commodification of labour power.

SOCIALISM is premised on the idea of fundamental inversion of the labour process that exists in capitalist societies. In capitalism, the worker is subject to the condition of production where the worker is alienated from the means of production, the process of production and the outcomes of productive process. This is articulated through the crude division between mental and physical labour and the worker is supposed to follow the rules of capital relations which naturalises this separation.

THE climate crisis that the humanity faces has been addressed by bourgeoisie theorists as a non-class issue to be resolved either by restraining consumption or by internalising climate costs in prices that disfavours polluters. The presumption for such theories is that individual consumption patterns involve increasing use of energy and particularly fossil fuel and to restrict carbon emissions climate action calls for restricting consumption.Tax on polluters and subsidizing green goods alters the price signals in the market and facilitates ecologically sustainable consumption habits.