Bravo
Charles.
Harry's theology is that organized work will last a thousand years, maybe
10 thousand. A belief system.
We
have to begin the transition of society from one of full employment to one of
full engagement (and this would include all sorts of work --including the
arts)
arthur
-----Original Message-----
From: Charles Brass [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Saturday, January 03, 2004 2:08 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [Futurework] FW Basic Income sitesHarry Pollard said:People don't want to work. They want the results of working. Until all of us have everything we want, there will be a need for production and service - and satiety is a long time away. Service provision is the hallmark of an advanced economy. We are a long way from finding the services we would like. There should be a constant demand for people to work - a demand that is never
satisfied. The idea of machines taking over requiring us to sit with folded hands is fantasy - and will be for a thousand or ten thousand years.This is a somewhat confused and contradictory position. On one hand Harry asserts that people don't want to work, then he suggests that in order to get what we need and want we will need to work for ten thousand years.I suggest people do want to work. They want to make a contribution, to be busy, to feel that they are engaged in something meaningful and useful.
The problem is that most of what the Industrial Revolution provided under the name 'work' was meaningless, or dehumanising.We have come a long way, however, since the invention of the steam engine (though you might not know it they way much of the discourse happens today) - and we can now provide people with all the meaning and purpose they require, and all the goods and services they require.All we have to do is think a bit laterally, and stop believing that 'the marketplace' (and the institutions which flow from the marketplace) create wealth and value - and believing that the best people can do is capture some of this value for themselves by 'working' in the marketplace.Now, I know that there is much debate about the meaning and nature of 'the marketplace' on this list (yes I read it all even if I only comment occasionally). So I must say I have no problem with the notion of markets as places where prices are cleared - but I certainly do have a problem with our (mostly implicit) belief that marketplaces are critical to the wealth and value in the world in the twentyfirst century.Work is getting something done. A job is getting done what someone else wants. We could now organise ourselves to get done what we want, in ways we want - but we find it hard to confront the thinking errors we have made in the past.Charles Brass
Chairman
futures foundation
phone:1300 727328
(International 61 3 9459 0244)
fax: 61 3 9459 0344
PO Box 122
Fairfield 3078
www.futurists.net.authe mission of the futures foundation is:
"...to engage all Australians in creating a better future..."
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