by Charles Smyth (not verified) - 16/08/2009 - 12:41
The subtext to André Gorz's Work, is: Any valid metric by which the efficacy of politics may be judged, must be eliminated from the minds of the polity. Thus, Gorz wilfully and misleadingly maligns capitalism, via which, a mere 4% makes it possible for almost everyone else to have a job, beyond the likes of subsistence farming and the associated quality of life, which most of France endured, prior to WW1. The criticism of the car industry is a consequence of labour, which had come to own capital by way of exchanging labour for money, and relinquished that ownership to a party, such as their pension and/or insurance funds, which then, by investing in the car industry, effectively meant that labour was paying itself to detrimentally maintain that line of work, instead of choosing to direct that capital towards new lines of production, and using some of their savings to carry them over the transition period, and/or utilise the millions of un/underemployed scientists and engineers.
Very decent of Charles Smyth to order Gorz. I am not so decent. I've read enough of Reisman to reinforce my view that laissez-faire capitalism is power-centric, ahistorical and promotes a barbarism shrouded in the ideology of individual freedom for the capitalist and mystifyingly to a lack of freedom, in the name of freedom, for the non-capitalist.
My french cousins are a inspiration. My union that i belong to has had a mass layoff in the last year. One third (36%) in the last year have lost there jobs due to this depression (including myself) that was caused by the greedy wall st. bankers that still get every thing they want from congress and the president. It sickens me to watch this happen while feeling powerless to do anything about it. Maybe i can help convince my fellow brothers to do some "bossnappings". Anytime someone even brings it up some of our members start saying that all it will do is make us look bad to the media and get nothing done in the end. I hope the french unions fight this all the way, mine sadly wont even consider it. If this economy keeps sheding jobs at the rate it is than my country is in for some very hard times and so is the liar Obama.
by Charles Smyth (not verified) - 10/08/2009 - 09:14
As suggested, I have placed an order for the André Gorz title, recommended by Lodziak, so as to gain further insight into contempoary counter-capitalism philosophy. Lodziak may wish to reciprocate by reading: Capitalism, A Treatise on Economics by Prof. George Reisman.
I'm pleased to see that you can read. To go beyond the impasse try reading André Gorz, Critique of Economic Reason, and also his Reclaiming Work: Beyond the Wage-Based Society.
by Charles Smyth (not verified) - 09/08/2009 - 12:45
French labour is suffering from the consequences of its demands, as executed via their wilful misuse of democracy. The massive disparity in executive compensation, in comparison to the average which French labour enjoys, is simply the outcome of replacing what would be more rational under capitalism, with a very limited and politically acceptable alternative, as described by the likes of William and Kenneth Hopper (The Puritan Gift) and Peter F. Drucker (The Practice of Management). This is not limited to France, but persists in Germany, the UK and the US, etc., all of which, unlike Scandinavia, do not have a population more in proportion to the value of their productive capability.
Comments (6)
Subtext.
The subtext to André Gorz's Work, is: Any valid metric by which the efficacy of politics may be judged, must be eliminated from the minds of the polity. Thus, Gorz wilfully and misleadingly maligns capitalism, via which, a mere 4% makes it possible for almost everyone else to have a job, beyond the likes of subsistence farming and the associated quality of life, which most of France endured, prior to WW1. The criticism of the car industry is a consequence of labour, which had come to own capital by way of exchanging labour for money, and relinquished that ownership to a party, such as their pension and/or insurance funds, which then, by investing in the car industry, effectively meant that labour was paying itself to detrimentally maintain that line of work, instead of choosing to direct that capital towards new lines of production, and using some of their savings to carry them over the transition period, and/or utilise the millions of un/underemployed scientists and engineers.
Capitalism - Reisman
Very decent of Charles Smyth to order Gorz. I am not so decent. I've read enough of Reisman to reinforce my view that laissez-faire capitalism is power-centric, ahistorical and promotes a barbarism shrouded in the ideology of individual freedom for the capitalist and mystifyingly to a lack of freedom, in the name of freedom, for the non-capitalist.
Union Strikes
My french cousins are a inspiration. My union that i belong to has had a mass layoff in the last year. One third (36%) in the last year have lost there jobs due to this depression (including myself) that was caused by the greedy wall st. bankers that still get every thing they want from congress and the president. It sickens me to watch this happen while feeling powerless to do anything about it. Maybe i can help convince my fellow brothers to do some "bossnappings". Anytime someone even brings it up some of our members start saying that all it will do is make us look bad to the media and get nothing done in the end. I hope the french unions fight this all the way, mine sadly wont even consider it. If this economy keeps sheding jobs at the rate it is than my country is in for some very hard times and so is the liar Obama.
L'économie nouvelle?
As suggested, I have placed an order for the André Gorz title, recommended by Lodziak, so as to gain further insight into contempoary counter-capitalism philosophy. Lodziak may wish to reciprocate by reading: Capitalism, A Treatise on Economics by Prof. George Reisman.
Reply to Smythe
I'm pleased to see that you can read. To go beyond the impasse try reading André Gorz, Critique of Economic Reason, and also his Reclaiming Work: Beyond the Wage-Based Society.
Poisoned chalice.
French labour is suffering from the consequences of its demands, as executed via their wilful misuse of democracy. The massive disparity in executive compensation, in comparison to the average which French labour enjoys, is simply the outcome of replacing what would be more rational under capitalism, with a very limited and politically acceptable alternative, as described by the likes of William and Kenneth Hopper (The Puritan Gift) and Peter F. Drucker (The Practice of Management). This is not limited to France, but persists in Germany, the UK and the US, etc., all of which, unlike Scandinavia, do not have a population more in proportion to the value of their productive capability.