> Nathan Newman wrote:
> >I don't buy it-- business loves large chunks of the public
> sector-- roads,
> >universities, and of course the defense sector.
>
> -Have you looked at the funding of public universities lately?
> -Diminishing shares come from public funds, and they're under constant
> -pressure to commercialize.
> -I suppose you're trying to argue that it's in capital's interest to
> -have a vigorous public sector, but if that were true, why are our
> -politics so anti-public-sector?
>
> RHETORIC may be anti-public sector, but the Congress just passed
> the largest highway bill in history and has been expanding defense
> spending at a rapid clip. And while the rightwing may want to
> ensure enough privatization to allow corporate dominance of
> decision-making in universities, there is still a large stake by
> corporations in promoting a strong university sector for both
> supplying their workforce and broad research.
Highways aren't built by government workers, i.e. unproductive workers. Paid for by the government, profited by private businesses, and that's the only way the US ruling class want to spend government money.
The only government workers that capitalists find truly indispensable are probably soldiers. How much would the Iraq War cost if all the jobs in the US military were privatized and contracted out to private firms? In the short run, it would be too expensive, though in the long run, you might be able to replace Americans by Mexicans, etc.: from citizen soldiers to citizen-to-be soldiers. :->
Yoshie Furuhashi <http://montages.blogspot.com> <http://monthlyreview.org> <http://mrzine.org>