Bill Humphries writes:
"One of the troubles with the current left critique of welfare is it
requires
the acceptance of the premise that Natural Law is a falacy. For instance,
hard work does not reward the just materially when the current international
labor market keeps bidding wages down. You'll have to convince people who
sincerely believe in a 'webberain' moral code, that the rules have changed,
and the agents with the greatest influence on the rules of the game don't
share the majority's moral code."
I agree that most people that work for a living probably adhere to
some Weberian code about merit and reward. However, isn't "the
left's" critique connected to issues of productivity *and*
distribution. In particular, labor fought long and hard for the five-
day work week that has been the benchmark for *all* workers since
around 1940. People "believed" in the merit-reward idea back then,
but didn't think it too radical that a person should work for five
days and get "paid" for six. Convincing them that we should move to
four days after 50 years isn't hard - enacting it against
the wishes of capital is another story.
Jason
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Jason Hecht
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
48 West 68th Street, Apt. 3A
New York, New York 10023-6015
(212) 799-6377
