>I have just posted to marxism re the clarification brought about by
>distinguishing government from state, a distinction which holds even
>at the level of mere usage. We can speak, for example, of a or the
>government wielding state power while to speak of a state wielding
>governmental power would be simply weird. Consider also the
>living wage ordinances being fought for in many cities. These
>increase the activity of government without adding to state power.
>One could also imagine laws which cancelled government contracts
>with any business allowing the printed or oral use of the n-word
>within its premises. There is an increase in governmental activity
>without an corresponding enhancement of the police power of the
>bourgeois state.
>
>To project into the future (with the understanding that such a projection
>is not for the sake of positing goals but for better understanding of
>the present), in a hypothetical classless society state functions would
>be reduced nearly to zero while governmental functions would be
>enormously increased. I can't imagine any left political program that
>did not work for increased governmental activity as its major concern.
>But I cannot imagine any left program that does not *also* work for
>narrowing of state power (for example by eliminating prison sentences
>for most criminal activity, as Angela Davis and, implicitly, Johnny Cash
>have both proposed).
>
>"Left defense of government" is, given the distinctions I offer here,
>tautological. That's what it *means* to be politically left.
Yes, and "alternative institutions" can't take care of safety inspections, etc.
***** Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2000 07:45:28 -0800 From: Michael Perelman <michael at ECST.CSUCHICO.EDU> To: pen-l at galaxy.csuchico.edu Subject: [PEN-L:17452] progress in deregulation
Note: this was written before the latest round of recalls of Sara Lee's Ballpark Hotdogs -- touted by Michael Jordan. Does he really eat them?
USDA TO CUT FOOD INSPECTORS WILL ALLOW THE SALE OF IRRADIATED MEAT
At a time when more and more contamination seems to be appearing in the country's food supply, the USDA in a move clearly designed to save the food industry money has announced that it plans to cut back food inspectors' visits to processing plants, saving on overtime pay and eliminating 150 jobs.
By cutting USDA's 7,500-employee inspection force by 150 jobs, the change would save the industry, which must cover the inspectors' overtime pay, an estimated $9 million a year. The department would save $4 million in personnel costs. "By having our resources allocated based on risk, the public is well served," said Margaret Glavin, associate administrator of the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service.
Critics, including the inspectors union, say the change will benefit the industry while possibly endangering public health.
...Inspectors currently are required to visit each processing plant once a shift, including overtime runs. The department wants to switch to daily, random checks, starting in a year. Inspections would concentrate on plants that have a history of problems or are considered to be riskier because of what they process, such as ground beef, the most common source of the deadly E. coli O157:H7.
...Only days after the USDA announced their cut back decision the Sara Lee Corporation announced a recall of 34,500 pounds of Ball Park hot dogs after samples tested positive for the listeria bacterium. Listeria can cause fever, headaches, nausea and neck stiffness. It is most dangerous to children, the elderly, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems. A listeria outbreak in 1998 that was linked to Sara Lee Corp.'s Bil Mar Foods plant in Michigan allegedly killed at least 15 people, sickened some 100 others and caused several miscarriages.... *****
Yoshie