detailed worker owned and managed businesses and their fate in the Market Place.
I believe Brad De Long may have mentioned organizations of this type and their fate.
2. Is there any reason to believe that Labor has any a priori disadvantage over capital
in international and power. Suppose that the AFL--CIO was a world wide organization and
set the wages but that businesses run by shopkeepers could not internationally organize. Let say
all the profit was in managing and running unions and the main abuse of the system
pointed out by both the left and the right were corrupt Labor Leaders who were exploiting the
workers in worker owned businesses.
3. Put another way why is there so much capitalist solidarity that this is not even mentioned by
conservatives as a problem. However, solidarity among workers is marginal. Why is this?
I am asking these questions not because I am unaware of the difficulties posed by the state which acts at least in the US as "an executive committee of the business class". This argument presumably doesn't work for Socialist Governments. I am also aware that the above statements are Utopian and counterfactual. A priori, it seems to me however that the opportunities and problems shared by labor and Capital are symmetric.
The question then if there are impediments to Labor organizations what are they and how can they be surmounted. If not, what is a overall strategy for strenthening Labor worldwide and in the United States given current difficulties.
--mike -- Michael Cohen mike at cns.bu.edu Associate Professor, Center for Adaptive Systems Work: 677 Beacon, Street, Rm313 Boston, Mass 02115 Home: 25 Stearns Rd, #3 Brookline, Mass 02146 Tel-Work: 617-353-9484 Tel-Home:617-353-7755