[lbo-talk] US immiseration

[John Thornton]

Doug Henwood wrote:
> On Mar 6, 2007, at 5:44 PM, James Heartfield sent:
>
>   
>> This is what the ILO says
>>
>> http://laborsta.ilo.org/cgi-bin/brokerv8.exe#291
>> Non agricultural weekly hours US
>>
>> 1976 36.1
>> 2006 33.9
>> ttp://laborsta.ilo.org/cgi-bin/brokerv8.exe#291
>> Non agricultural earnings per hour dollars
>>
>> 1976 4.86
>> 1986 8.76
>> 1996 12.03
>> 2006 16.76
>>
>> "Real earnings are expressed in constant dollars and are calculated  
>> from the
>> earnings averages for the current month using a deflator derived  
>> from the
>> Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers  
>> (CPI-W).
>> The reference year is 1982."
>>     
>
> That's very nice, but the numbers cited are not adjusted for  
> inflation - they're an almost exact match for the BLS's nominal wages.
>
> James, I quoted you the BLS's figures for aggregate hours worked in  
> the private sector and for the real wage (deflated by the CPI-U).  
> They show a rise nearly twice the rate of the overall growth in the  
> pop for the former, and a significant decline in the latter. The ILO  
> isn't going to tell you much different because they get the numbers  
> from the BLS.
>
> Why do you have such a hard time believing this?
>
> Doug

Because then James would have to admit he was wrong. Things are not 
constantly getting better and better for the majority of people.
This would be barbaric using the definition James posted earlier in this 
thread.

Truthfully Doug, when was the last time you saw a list member admit they 
were mistaken in one of their beliefs?
That doesn't happen much on most lists but this list in particular seems 
populated by members who simply cannot admit something they believe has 
been demonstrated to be untrue.
Swift's admonition that you can't reason a person out of a position they 
never reasoned themselves into fits pretty well here.
James belief that civilization is constantly improving through the 
wonders of market driven technology as measured by all meaningful 
standards is such a position.

Capitalism is barbaric James. Try saying this out loud a few times. 
Maybe it will help.

John Thornton