Inputs and outputs, though. I certainly wouldn't want to live in a precapitalist economy or in most forms of Actually Existing Socialism, but one argument that I always think ought to get more traction is that capitalism has singularly failed to shorten the working day. A lot of people intuitively realise that there is something wrong here; we were promised robot slaves and unlimited leisure time in the comic books, and now the space age is here and we're still working like dogs.
I occasionally find it a sobering thought that my grandfather lived in a two-up-two-down he could barely afford and rose at 0530 every morning to get down to the market, and now, after the social mobility afforded to the third generation thanks to a very expensive university and business school education, I find myself living in a two-up-two-down I can barely afford, getting up at 0530 in order to be ready for the market. dd On Sun, 28 Mar 2004 14:01:49 -0500, Doug Henwood wrote: > > Compared to what? It's hard to argue with its capacity > to grow, > innovate, and produce cheaper commodities over the > centuries - at a > high social and ecological cost, for sure, but I don't > think you can > win the "efficiency" argument from the left. It has to > be on other > grounds. > > Doug
