>>Marx's concept of (un)productive labor centered on productive labor
producing surplus-value, promoting the fortunes of the capitalist
class as a whole. Indirectly productive labor (to use Jim O'Connor's
concept) -- often hired by the government -- promotes surplus-value
production without actually participating in the capitalist production
process. (E.g., a public-school teacher teaches someone to read, so
that the capitalists who hire her or him don't have to do so.)
>> Another concept should be added: profit-promoting labor vs. not-
profit-promoting labor. The former benefits _individual_ employers
(though not necessarily the capitalist class as a whole) and the
latter does not (though it might be beneficial to the capitalist class
as a whole). The former might include advertising people (who simply
redistribute demand from one capitalist's product to another, if that)
while the latter might include the public school teacher mentioned
above.
>>We can imagine two scenarios. The first is the one that Bush seems
to be striving for, having the government and the capitalists do
whatever's the most profit-promoting for individual capitalists
(and damn the torpedoes, goddamnit). In this case, we'd see slashing
of government jobs _even if_ they the indirectly promote surplus-value
production. We'd see a lot of jobs shifted to private- sector
production (i.e., privatization), where they might promote private
profits. We'd also see a lot of work being done in the private sector
which is highly profitable even though it doesn't promote the
production of surplus-value much at all (e.g., Doug's friends in the
financial sector).
>>I would think that this scenario wouldn't pan out for the capitalist
class as a whole in the long run, since the emphasis is on individual
capitalist needs rather than on class interests. <<
On 1/18/06, Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
> If public education promotes accumulation, in what way does it do so? Workers in a modern economy need to be able to read, to be sure,, but, for that purpose, primary education alone should mostly suffice. For most jobs that US capitalists need to staff, US workers are overeducated and overqualified, notwithstanding what Bill Gates says; and for a minority of US jobs that do need the highly educated, US capitalists can poach by importing workers or offshoring jobs. <
right. The theory I sketched was abstract. The application to the concrete (real world) would be more complex than what I said.
> If public education promotes accumulation, it probably does so mainly not by educating US workers but buying class peace (e.g., keeping young people off the streets, so they won't become Wojtek's dreaded gangs at least for the hours they spend at school).
>The public sector's value of promoting class peace, however, gets
highly discounted by capitalists when workers don't seem to threaten
class peace anyway, no matter how many attacks are inflicted on them.
<
the right wing types seem to favor the repressive function of the state as a replacement for the legitimation function.
>> On the other hand, there's the scenario that might be preferred by
social democrats, in which there's an effort to make capitalism more
rational. [should be in quotes -- JD] There, the emphasis of state
activity would be on activities that are either necessary or
indirectly productive of surplus-value. There might be an effort to
limit the excesses of private capital, e.g., sectors that don't really
contribute to the health of the "economy" (i.e., surplus-value
production). A Tobin tax might be imposed on the financiers, etc. This
would most likely promote the long-term health of the capitalist
economy. <<
> If social democrats had pursued "rational capitalism through long- term investment" in the 70s, could they have restored profit rates? <
maybe, but the political balance wasn't right for that solution.
>Where profit rates are already restored and soaring, there is room
for "rational capitalism through long-term investment," but whenever
economy gets into difficulty, it seems irresistible to restore profit
rates by attacking workers, e.g., by busting unions, shrinking the
public sector, etc. <
right. The rate of profit plays a big role in determining the political balance.
-- Jim Devine "The price one pays for pursuing any profession or calling is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side." -- James Baldwin
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