[lbo-talk] A Disturbing Economic Trend in the USA

[Gar Lipow]

Defining the class between labor and capital (unless you simply
confine to classic Marxist formulation of petty bourgeoisie )  is
tough. But there is a large  group of people who are NOT capitalists
or at least not only capitalist  but whose short term material
interests are different from the majority of workers.  They cannot be
defined as capitalists because the majority of their income comes from
selling their labor,and that income is no so high that they cannot
easily save enough so as to be able to stop selling their labor to 
live. Their material interests differ from the majority of workers
because  unlike the majority if workers their wage has increased
-whereas the bottom 80% or so earns less than they did 1976 (and for
that  matter less than they did in 1968). You don't have to call this
group a separate class if you don't want. But if you ever want to a
left to come into existence you have to deal with contradictions
between this group and the working class/rest of the working class.

On 8/11/05, Wojtek Sokolowski <sokol at jhu.edu> wrote:
> Doug:
> > Still, your fundamental point is right - the share of the income pie
> > earned by "ordinary" workers (what the BLS calls nonsupervisory or
> > production workers, who are 81% of the private sector workforce) is
> > shrinking. High-income workers, upper-middle and senior managers,
> > whose pay conceptually includes a large portion that's a return to
> > capital, are getting more. Since the economy bottomed in late 2001,
> > wages and salaries for employees of "corporate business" (which
> > excludes proprietorships and small partnerships) are up 12%, and
> > pretax profits are up 85%.
> 
> I think it is a rather different point.  High income employees still earn
> wages so they would be included in the stats Chuck posted.
> 
> Furthermore, treating all high income worker remuneration as return to
> capital is moot at best.  It all depends on the source of income not the
> amount.  A blue collar worker who is making a few thousand $ per year by
> buying and selling stuff on ebay is more of a "capitalist" than, say, an
> airline pilot or a physician whose earnings from work may reach six digits.
> 
> 
> The point you are making may apply, at least in theory, to corporate CEO or
> a celebrity inasmuch as his/her income can be divided into rent (i.e. income
> derived from selling his/her name and position) and remuneration for value
> he/she creates for the company.  In practice, however, that distinction is
> difficult to make, especially in case of CEOs.
> 
> Wojtek
> 
> 
> 
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> 

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