> > Actually, since many leftists find the system of property and contract
> law
> > that constitutes contemporary capitalism largely but not exhaustively
> > determinative of class/exploitative relations, they have called for
> the
> > transformation of said laws. Of course, that too is considered mere
> > moralizing ressentiment by libertarians, liberals etc.
> >
> >
> > Ian
> >
>
> That would mean paying decent wages and treating service workers with
> dignity, rather than abolishing service work altogether, no? Denouncing
> that work because it furthers decadent life styles is moralizing.
==============
Well one could assert that all work is service of a sort. Just look at the boilerplate that comes from the Coalition of Service Industries. Anyhoo, my point was regarding the contracts that mediated the work relationship which allowed one class to live 'decadent' [whatever that means] lifestyles while the class that performed the work had its lifestyles criminalized/ostracized what have you.
Let's say Merry Maids and/or what have you were worker-owned coops a la Thomas Weisskopf or David Schweickart; who on the list would denounce such purchase-sale of labor power as exploitative? Or should the household division of labor be an exclusively intra-home phenomena?
>
> PS. When I was in Mexico City I noticed that my left, pro-union friends
> employ a housekeeper, and elderly native woman to do their laundry and
> wash their dishes. When I expressed reservations, they replied that
> they: (1) give employment to someone who would otherwise be unemployable
> (2) by spending their money on that person's wages rather than on a
> dishwasher or laundry machinery they support the local economy rather
> than US manufacturers, and (3) they treat their housekeeper no different
> that other workers.
>
> Rationalization? Perhaps. But its logic makes more sense than Ms.
> Ehrenreich's liberal guilt trip.
>
> PS. PS. I love eating out. Does that make me a waiter-exploiting
> capitalist swine? What if I leave generous tips (as I usually do)?
>
> Wojtek
==============
Lisa, my beloved, just got done with BE's book. She was horrified, yet didn't feel guilty in the slightest--I do most of the housework [thanx mom&dad]. When we eat out we leave big tips too. We don't consider it generosity or a duty.....
Ian