[lbo-talk] How we got from there to here

Carrol Cox cbcox at ilstu.edu
Wed Jul 13 15:33:24 PDT 2011


On 7/13/2011 3:59 PM, shag carpet bomb wrote: [clip] According to Cowie, the song isn't about open rebellion but about the "hidden transcript" of minor acts of resistance people engage in at work: stealing paperclips, surfing the web, etc.

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Just a ote of clarification. Yes, the song doesn't represent rebellion; it represents the degree of 'freedom' achieved by the end of the '60s; the availability of jobs. In that review I referred to the reviewer from his own experience at the time told of quitting a job and finding another one in two days.

That, from the employer's perspective was really frightening.

Perhaps one can go a bit further. Capital has_never_ been very frightened by fear of the _overthrow_ of capitalism by socialist revolution: it has been concerned about _disorder_, an unfriendly climate for business (in the usual phrase). Theodore Roosevelt thought strikers should be treated as the Paris Communards were, not because strikers threatened the existence of capitalism but because they disrupted the normal course of business.

Again, see Morgan's book. He treats this at length, documenting the fear that arose in the '60s.

Carrol



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