where's the ltv?

A friend of mine posted this article on Facebook today, and I think the author presents some interesting, if rather stridently presented, points.

For one, modern, predominately academic critics of capitalism do seem to find themselves between a rock and hard place when it comes to confronting capitalism without at the same time supporting neoliberal policies aimed at reducing the state that ultimately target and negatively impact the working class via their reduction and/or elimination of state welfare and safety programs. As a result, they find themselves in the uncomfortable (and unenviable) position of "siding with the nation state against the historical process bound up with capitalism," and in the process, supporting state welfare and safety programs and its management of social capital along with the state itself, which ultimately represents the interests of the capitalist class and not that of labour. (I know it's something I have a difficult time reconciling in my own politics.)

Another salient point is the relative absence of Marx's labour theory of value in most of the analyses and critiques of the current crisis, and I agree that one of the things that should be at the forefront of any socialist response to the current crisis, and capitalism in general, is a demand for the reduction of labour hours.

I think the author makes similar albeit less stringently stated points in their series of articles titled "The Black Hole: Marxism, the State and the Social Revolution": "The Black Hole: Marxism, the State and the Social Revolution," "The Black Hole: Marxism, the State and the Social Revolution (2)," and "The Black Hole: Marxism, the State and the Social Revolution (3)."