[lbo-talk] German election: the markets won't like this

Wojtek Sokolowski sokol at jhu.edu
Mon Sep 19 10:03:13 PDT 2005


MG:
> I don't know what we would do differently if we were running these
> organizations, except perhaps try and do more and better internal
education
> and throw more money into international unionism, but I would still not
feel
> confident this in itself would much dent the "iron law" of capitalism
which
> you cite below. I think many if not most union leaders, contrary to

Yes, if 'we" though inside the box i.e. treating unions as wage cartels. But if we think outside the box, unions are also big investors thanks to their pension funds. Why not investing these money into creating enterprises with social responsibility that do not race Western firms to the bottom? There is a lot talk about 'social economy" in Europe http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/csr/index_en.htm and even in this country e.g. http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/responsiblebusiness/ http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/headlines/csi_phil_disc_series_osberg.shtml but that would require a totally brand new thinking that goes beyond the received wisdom of us the blue collar folk vs. them white collar guys divide.

Changes are made my implementing them in the workings of the economy, not by moral appeals. The Soviet Union has demonstrated that it is possible to run a modern economy without the bourgeois notion of private ownership not by making moral appeals but by building such an economy and kicking the bourgeois and aristocratic asses real good in the process.

Right now, the corporate bosses became a new aristocracy and they ass again needs to be kicked - again, not by moral appeals but by creating alternative corporations - not corner shops but complex multinational organizations - that work for social good instead benefiting a few.

Wojtek



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list