On 3/16/12, michael perelman <michael.perelman3 at gmail.com> wrote:
> The article does not refer to a confident middle class in China, but a
> willingness to vote out the Asian neocon-like politicians elsewhere in
> Asia. The threat is worrisome there.
>
> And in the US. Wisconsin & OWS were important but not enough for
> government to tell business to raise wages.
>
> On Fri, Mar 16, 2012 at 12:11 PM, Tony Rolfe <mr.tony.rolfe at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>> Where do we find evidence of a confident assertive working class in
>> China? I'll admit I've been tuned mostly to Arab Springs, OWS,
>> Wisconsin, Greek protests, UK riots etc...
>>
>> I'll assume there are convincing labour movements in China, but what
>> clear-cut evidence of this do we have available from a US/western
>> vantage point?
>>
>> When labour is in short supply and workers are confident of finding
>> work, I would say that their inclinations towards any sort of action,
>> individual or collective, will be determined mostly by cultural norms.
>> Low-level tech workers in Silicon Valley are not contemplating
>> forming unions just because the NasDaq hit 3000 yesterday.
>>
>> BTW property values in China have inflated rather dramatically in big
>> cities, and (this is conjecture) but rents have probably ratcheted up
>> to match. A demand for minimum wage increases doesn't seem so radical
>> if you can't afford adequate shelter--household formation. That's an
>> economic breaking point, not a sign of advanced class consciousness,
>> right?
>>
>> On 3/16/12, Marv Gandall <marvgand at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> On 2012-03-16, at 1:14 PM, c b wrote:
>>>
>>>> michael perelman
>>>>
>>>> Yes, China wants to develop its consumer base, but other countries are
>>>> having to respond to the demand for higher wages because of pressure
>>>> from below. Are Asian elites more advanced or are they responding to
>>>> working class pressure that is non-existent here in the US.
>>>>
>>>> ^^^^^^
>>>>
>>>> CB: China's CP leadership is no doubt more advanced than the US
>>>> bourgeois
>>>> elite.
>>>
>>> Anyone yet mention that Chinese manufacturers on the coast are
>>> experiencing
>>> labour shortages and have had to pay higher wages or relocate inland or
>>> to
>>> neighbouring countries where labour is cheaper? The more the interior
>>> industrializes, the more disincentive there is to migrate, pressuring
>>> coastal wages even more. As China moves up the value chain, wages are
>>> also
>>> rising to meet the demand for more highly skilled workers. Where labour
>>> is
>>> in short supply and workers are confident of finding work, they are more
>>> inclined to engage in job action and other forms of protest for better
>>> pay
>>> and benefits.
>>>
>>> So there's nothing inherently more astute about Asian bosses of big
>>> state-owned or private firms. Their needs require that they make
>>> concessions
>>> to their workers. US capitalists aren't faced with a confident, assertive
>>> working class in a rapidly expanding economy where permanent
>>> manufacturing
>>> jobs are plentiful, as they once were. Now American workers are
>>> scrambling
>>> to find work, and it is not they, but their employers, who are demanding
>>> and
>>> winning concessions in the ongoing struggle between the classes.
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>
>
>
> --
> Michael Perelman
> Economics Department
> California State University
> Chico, CA
> 95929
>
> 530 898 5321
> fax 530 898 5901
> http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com
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