[lbo-talk] Servant culture

boddhisatva boddhisatva at netzero.net
Mon Aug 25 15:25:08 PDT 2003


Comrade Monaco,

No, I don't represent "capital uber alles" by any stretch of the imagination. I have come to understand, however, that markets are inevitable social structures, common to all societies. That's a good thing because markets are fundamentally a democratic structure which is why capitalists are forever trying to distort and avoid truly free markets in order to capture an advantage.

But the important thing here is that market logic leads us in a natural way to distinguish between what is private and what is public. Obligations between parents and children are completely different from obligations between worker and customer. The reason is that the obligations between parent and child are not (in the overwhelming number of cases) fungible. A worker can offer his work product in the marketplace to whoever wants it. A parent can't. Parenting is private, which is why you don't get paid to be a parent - hence there is no opportunity for arbitrage.

In order for you to get paid as a parent, I as an outsider would have to judge the effectiveness of your parenting as it benefits me - as a product - and decide your wage accordingly. There is almost no possibility that we could work out terms along those lines. The benefit to me of your parenting is indirect at best and you don't want me controlling the terms under which you do your parenting. The truth is that I don't much care how you choose to raise your family and I certainly have no desire to pay you for it. Why would I? Rather, I will pay you for your actual work in the public economy and you can use that money to parent as you like. For me to pay you, there has to be some logic of exchange.

As a taxpayer I may offer you as a mother government assistance, health care or benefits, but that isn't pay. That is essentially government-based insurance intended to keep the cogs of society turning smoothly. There, the logic is that children create a temporary crisis of liquidity so we create a pool of liquidity to keep workers going until they can be productive again.

peace,

boddi



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