> Yoshie writes:
> For starters, avoid using such ungainly words as "incentivize"
> straight out of the book of CorporateSpeak.
I wrote:> right. In addition, I'm afraid the word "incentive" is inextricably bound with individualistic ideas of "what's in it for me?" What we need is more along the lines of workers' _class_ consciousness, which is a more collective way of looking at the world.<
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Ian:
This is true, but one cannot create incentives/motivations/whathaveyou
to a class as a class is not a subject/agent. One need not be a
methodological individualist to assent to that assertion.
me:
I wasn't doubting the status of the working class as an agent. But that class is currently not realizing its potential as a collective agent, at least here in the US, but as an atomized, somewhat hopeless, and cynical mass. In order to help the working class realize its potential (self-education, self-organizing, and possibly self-liberating), it's best to get beyond individualistic formulations, such as "incentives."
Jim
