baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
Ah OK, gotcha. But I think there's a massive difference between people who are self-employed only to make more money (i.e. buy into capitalism in a big way, your so-called entrepreneurs', though what value most of them actually create is highly open to debate), and those who are self-employed because they (a) want to free themselves of the employer's shackles, and not reproduce that dynamic with them in the role of boss; and/or (b) do something of genuine worth to others that they don't see anyone else/many other people doing effectively, rather than to accumulate cash/capital, while of course earning a reasonable living doing it.
I think the very genuine problem is that the second type of person might over time turn into the first type of person, if they weren't careful. But I think that's a typical problem under capitalism, that a sick kind of Randian self-interest (!) can pervert people if they have not sorted out their own issues with self-esteem/fear etc etc. Which is, incidentally, where I see a large part of the problem coming from in regimes that set out to be socialist - so, for example, while Castro may have had lofty ideals in a lot of ways, he still thought it was OK to send gay people to camps, presumably because he hadn't bothered to interrogate his own prejudices. Which is to say, real political change is impossible without real psychological change - the oppressed simply adopt the roles of oppressors after a time, which is pretty heartbreaking.
Five-day week - definitely lots of alternatives. Of course these are pie in the sky as long as most people stay locked in the idea that: (a) all jobs are genuinely productive, rather than a great many of them being more about enriching already rich people; (b) five days a week/20-25 days annual leave (though in the US is it still closer to 10?) is somehow an arrangement ordained from above, rather than the best compromise that labour reformers could get from capitalists way back when; and (c) somewhere, deep down, they don't deserve any better than this arrangement. Also, it would help if even supposedly left-wing media stopped bowing to the god of constant growth, as being an inanimate arbiter of how successful a society is.
Agree totally that work still needs to be done - did you read Dan Hancox's book on Marinaleda btw? - but certainly not the levels/types of work we are 'told' are necessary.
http://www.neweconomics.org/blog/2010/02/15/21-hours-a-new-norm-for-the-working-week - as said, fanciful until there are other changes in the way people think, but something to aim for. Obv one of the main things preventing this is the artificial inflation of the housing market, at least in the UK, coupled with rental laws that make everyone feel insecure. Not sure how this compares to the Netherlands? I've heard Belgium is significantly better.
I always find it amazing the number of people who claim they would be 'bored' if they didn't work five days a week! Chilling.
I think the very genuine problem is that the second type of person might over time turn into the first type of person, if they weren't careful. But I think that's a typical problem under capitalism, that a sick kind of Randian self-interest (!) can pervert people if they have not sorted out their own issues with self-esteem/fear etc etc. Which is, incidentally, where I see a large part of the problem coming from in regimes that set out to be socialist - so, for example, while Castro may have had lofty ideals in a lot of ways, he still thought it was OK to send gay people to camps, presumably because he hadn't bothered to interrogate his own prejudices. Which is to say, real political change is impossible without real psychological change - the oppressed simply adopt the roles of oppressors after a time, which is pretty heartbreaking.
Five-day week - definitely lots of alternatives. Of course these are pie in the sky as long as most people stay locked in the idea that: (a) all jobs are genuinely productive, rather than a great many of them being more about enriching already rich people; (b) five days a week/20-25 days annual leave (though in the US is it still closer to 10?) is somehow an arrangement ordained from above, rather than the best compromise that labour reformers could get from capitalists way back when; and (c) somewhere, deep down, they don't deserve any better than this arrangement. Also, it would help if even supposedly left-wing media stopped bowing to the god of constant growth, as being an inanimate arbiter of how successful a society is.
Agree totally that work still needs to be done - did you read Dan Hancox's book on Marinaleda btw? - but certainly not the levels/types of work we are 'told' are necessary.
http://www.neweconomics.org/blog/2010/02/15/21-hours-a-new-norm-for-the-working-week - as said, fanciful until there are other changes in the way people think, but something to aim for. Obv one of the main things preventing this is the artificial inflation of the housing market, at least in the UK, coupled with rental laws that make everyone feel insecure. Not sure how this compares to the Netherlands? I've heard Belgium is significantly better.
I always find it amazing the number of people who claim they would be 'bored' if they didn't work five days a week! Chilling.
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