On Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:38:58 +0000 (GMT) Lajany Otum
<lajany_otum at yahoo.co.uk> writes:
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> On Oct 9, 2007, at 7:45 PM, Carrol Cox wrote:
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> > OF COURSE THEY STRENGTHENED CAPITALISM, as all the
> > gains of the working class for 200+ years have done.
>
> It being the case that gains for the working class have always
> strengthened capitalism, the ruling class ought to have nothing
> to lose from reforms that favour the working class -- indeed
> they ought to dish them out all the time, rather than expend
> considerable resources that they have in trying to roll them
> back.
I think you are failing to distinguish between the short and long term interests of capital, and between the sectional interests of capital vs. the interests of capital as a whole. Many reforms were fought tooth and nail by capitalists, which in the end actually strengthened capitalism. Marx, long ago made that point in his analysis of the passage of the Factory Acts in Britain, which had been strongly opposed by the manufacturers. The regulation of working hours and the improvement of working conditions was in the long term bests interests of capital because capital requires a relatively healthy work force. But individual capitalists only saw that such legislation would drive up their labor costs, hence their bitter opposition to such laws.
In the 1930s, Roosevelt defended his New Deal legislation, arguing that he was attempting to save capitalism from itself. In my opinion, he very accurately characterized the thrust of his reforms.
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