[lbo-talk] Liberal Intellectuals and the Coordinator Class

Carrol Cox cbcox at ilstu.edu
Wed Jul 18 12:10:29 PDT 2007


I've got other concerns right now and I can't develop this, but let me see if I can state the point behind my previous post.

My claims are as follows:

1. No society can exist without some proportion of "freeloaders" within it. (Freeloaders defined as those members capable of work, and whose labor could be of use, but who avoid it in some way or other.)

2. It is impossible to determine in advance what proportion of freeloaders will be a tolerable burden in any future society. That proportion will have to be worked out in practice and through experience in any future society.

3. Attempts to lower the number of freeloaders below some (to be determined) number will be destructive of whole of the society. That is, the cost of eliminating or trying to eliminate freeloading* will be a cost (socially, politically, "morally," and economically) that the society will be unable to bear. [*As opposed to relaxed efforts to reduce freeloading to reasonable levels. It cannot become a central concern in any social order without catastrophic consequences.]

4. It follows that the question of freeloading in the future is a question that cannot be intelligibly or intelligently discussed. This whole thread is unintelligible; it is a modern version of how many angels can dance on the point of a needle.

Carrol



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