tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8861605.post2907698028463799573..comments2024-03-24T11:01:27.668-04:00Comments on Resource Insights: The unfinished American project: Democratizing workKurt Cobbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330759091950742285noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8861605.post-88736323962098877752019-03-04T14:11:49.073-05:002019-03-04T14:11:49.073-05:00I generally agree with your essay, but don't t...I generally agree with your essay, but don't think it goes far enough. I'm skeptical the institutions of private property rights and the market can be reconciled with workplace democracy. The two things are fundamentally at odds with each other. <br /><br />The choice most people face - work at the pleasure of the boss for enough money to live, or face immiseration - is imposed by a system rigged for those at the top of the wealth and income distribution. The evil genius of the system, a combination of private property rights and market discipline, means that firms must compete in order to survive. This pressure leads to longer work hours, marketing departments, hierarchy and pay differentials. And power imbalance flows naturally from economic inequality, and is invariably used to undermine democratic reforms at work and in the political sphere. In short, the capitalist workplace is an ever present danger to democracy, in all its forms.<br /><br />UBI or no, work will remain often useless (see David Graeber on BS jobs, or the research on the usefulness of middle management), generate products (salad shooters) with zero utility, unsustainably consume the world's resources, literally trash the planet with the waste and effluent, all while stressing out the population.<br /><br />If we really want liberty and sustainability, we need to supplant work, and the institutions of property and the market that it rests on, with something else. I don't claim to have the answer, but there are a lot of interesting ideas out there already. UBI is one such, although insufficient in my view (unless it is large enough to live on comfortably, obviating the need to work). We could bring back the commons (see George Monbiot), or try abolishing work altogether (see Bob Black).<br /><br />Such utopian dreams seem impossible, I know. But implementation of a UBI doesn't seem realistic either. If we're going to ask for something, let's shoot for the moon. In that case, if future circumstances favor our side, we'll get the whole loaf.<br /><br /><br /> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8861605.post-33443556293892004412019-03-04T04:12:01.465-05:002019-03-04T04:12:01.465-05:00Good article. When I used to work in a bank in the...Good article. When I used to work in a bank in the back office supporting the trading rooms - work was so much more pleasant when the management were away on course or on holidays. We got more done and enjoyed planning our day because we weren't being watched over by someone earning twice our salary and doing very vworkDon19https://www.blogger.com/profile/05955676272366296870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8861605.post-62958651605811774382019-03-03T12:04:48.841-05:002019-03-03T12:04:48.841-05:00Richard D. Wolff has written a great book on this ...Richard D. Wolff has written a great book on this subject, "Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism".Joe Clarksonnoreply@blogger.com