Doug writes:
>
>I'm saddened to see Bill Mitchell taking the line he has on France. This
>conflict isn't about the specifics of Juppe's proposals, which are quite
>mild by US standard. As Daniel Singer told me, everyone recognizes that
>these are the "thin edge of the wedge," the overture to a long process of
>making the EU more like the US, with "flexible" labor markets and a
>crummier welfare state. It may not be like the romance of '68, and the
>unions might not be exemplars of political sophistication, but this is a
>struggle over real stuff that's important on a global scale. It may be
>crude to reduce one's position on the strikes to a binary for/against
>choice, but sometimes politics is that way. Sorry to see that Bill is
>trying to straddle the virgule.
i am not straddling anything doug. i just don't know sometimes who my mates
are. as capitalism has divided the workplace and the workforce up, it has also
given some workers more than others. the workers who have taken more are doing
the work of the bosses as far as i am concerned. i am concerned more for things
bigger than an excessively lucrative pension for a train driver. that group
have taken at the expense of their mates. they are doing the work of the bosses
in keeping others in poverty and compliance and insecurity.
if the left can't be self-critical what bloody hope is there?
>
>Actually I don't really know what position the French unions have taken on
>immigrants, but I don't doubt that immigrants will be worse off if Juppe's
>austerity plan goes through.
so maintaining the privilege of one group who doesn't care for the other is
acceptable b/c the change will not benefit the poor anyway? no way.
>
>I also don't know the details of the French fiscal situation over the long
>term. I do know that the dire projections of the US being swamped by
>dependent geezers in 2020 are highly exaggerated, and part of a long-term
>plan to chip away at our public retirement system. I'd be very careful
>about believing official projections uncritically. But even if they're
>true, that doesn't mean that Juppe's approach is right, does it? Aren't
>there democratic & egalitarian ways to solving this problem that may not
>really exist?
the projections are somewhat open to question. the demographic trends are not
really open to dispute. the assumptions made about the pension gaps and debt
levels are entirely reasonable.
the general point to emerge from this specific discussion is that there are
many people on the list who despair at any criticism of the sacred working
class. where is this class? divided, at odds with itself, and represented by
institutions who care little for the real battle and more for themselves. i
personally don't see these institutions as being of much relevance to the
future of the socialist struggle. they will have to broaden their horizons and
embrace demographic and ethnic groups which they seem to have trouble doing.
and they will have to see that there is not enough environment to go around and
that means a non-material dimension has to be the focus of the working class
movement. capitalism requires the population to think in material terms. it
divides workers on those terms and it reaps profits on those terms. it wants to
have these little tiffs with workers about wages and benefits (either directly
or through the state) b/c that way it avoids having to deal with the workers on
issues like control. it knows that sooner or later the call of petty debt
(mortgages) will force the workers back. wait it out and maybe throw a penny
out and call it a compromise.
the real issue is when the working class is going to talk about control. and
clearly the vast (and increasing) majority of workers are not seeing their
future in terms of unionism. the unions through there own actions are becoming
a redundant feature of capitalism.
so doug is sad about me. i am sad that we don't have working class vehicles
that embrace the issues and give people (generally) some hope.
kind regards
bill
--
#### ## William F. Mitchell
####### #### Head of Economics Department
################# University of Newcastle
#################### New South Wales, Australia
###################* E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
################### Phone: +61 49 215065
##### ## ### +61 49 215027
Fax: +61 49 216919
##
WWW Home Page: http://econ-www.newcastle.edu.au/~bill/billyhp.html
