My comment at New Left Project: Thanks, Andrew, for a stimulating and provocative critique. There are a > number of "empirical" assumptions you make that I would take issue with but > I want to first agree with what I take to be your main point about the > futility of what you call "social democratic lever-pulling." I'm glad you > acknowledge the same or similar difficulties would obtain for revolutionary > socialist lever-pulling. The levers will not be pulled. >
> Some quibbles: First, your eight percent consumption figure presumably > refers to market incomes, I would object that a lot, perhaps most, of life > takes place outside of the clutches of market exchange. People outside of > high-income countries may indeed aspire to North American-style "affluence" > but that doesn't mean they'd be better off if they got it. Second, > capitalist calculation is subject to rather severe restrictions and it is > therefore true that, at least within limits, profits may be increased by > social democratic policies that make workers better off. This doesn't mean > such improvement can go on indefinitely, but such improvement as can be > achieved has the potential of opening up other possibilities. That's the > notion of transformative reforms. > > I would like to suggest that analysis is not enough to inform practice. In > some cases too much analysis becomes inhibiting because it substitutes for > practice. I would highlight instead something Charles Tilly termed > "repertoire". These are collective habits, behaviors and expectations that > lead to collective action. Social democratic aspirations may thus inform > direct action that points beyond social democratic lever pulling. On Fri, Sep 13, 2013 at 8:15 AM, Tom Walker <[email protected]> wrote: > Thanks, Jamie, for posting this! Very timely. ;-) > > > On Thu, Sep 12, 2013 at 11:09 PM, Jamie Stern-Weiner < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> Andrew Kliman comments sceptically on the 'post-work' debate, responding >> to, among others, David Graeber, Peter Frase, Chris Maisano and John >> Quiggin. >> >> It's not utopian to dream of radically reduced working hours, he argues. >> What's utopian is to think it could happen within capitalism. >> >> >> http://www.newleftproject.org/index.php/site/article_comments/post_work_zombie_social_democracy_with_a_human_face >> >> -- >> Jamie Stern-Weiner >> http://www.newleftproject.org/ >> >> _______________________________________________ >> pen-l mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l >> >> > > > -- > Cheers, > > Tom Walker (Sandwichman) > -- Cheers, Tom Walker (Sandwichman)
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