Employment
A favourite line of the well-off when dismissing the plight of the unemployed is that no-one is owed a living.
This is quite wrong. Anyone who wants a living and is willing to work is owed a living. This is part of the price to be paid for society's recognition of private property and the legitimacy of inheritance. The existence of private property means that possibilities are ruled out for others: because society recognizes the lawfulness of the Duke of Omnium's inherited estate worth x billion, him having done nothing to merit such abundance, that property is not available for use by others.
Employers, including Branson, have popped up whining about an inflexible jobs market, as if it was their dearest wish to employ as many people as possible and only the heavy hand of state regulation is preventing them. This is of course insulting balderdash. The very nature of Capitalism demands businesses reduce labour costs as much as possible.
Underlying this, it is quite grotesque that having a job - with all that means in terms of your life, your position in society - should depend on the benevolence of individual Capitalists.
Of course, the destruction of the idea of right to employment is key to Capitalist exploitation of labour. For jobs matter. Any sort of 'Big', or more accurately Good Society must start with jobs. Employment is crucial to the well-being of society. It reduces crime, it boosts the economy, it increases tax revenue. Most importantly it gives everyone a stake in a civilised society. It is a social and an individual good. Of course, under Capitalism the employed are there to be exploited but having a job is nevertheless a social good.
If you are unemployed, the current Capitalist state will not let you starve but it will make life hard for you. It believes it has no obligation to provide work, that is the role of private enterprise (though it is happy to give private companies contracts so wealthy individuals with shares in the companies benefit from cheap labour). A clear proof of its priorities is that it is quite happy to print money to give directly to banks but will not use the money to boost jobs through capital spending.
Crocodile tears are shed over the jobless by right wing Governments but in truth, they have no sympathy. The neo-liberal ideology is simple and clear and it's based on the law of supply and demand. If people are out of work it must be their own fault in wanting too much money or not moving. Of course, if wages fall too much then social security provision becomes preferable, so then the obvious need is to reduce social security provision. Thus the latest manifestation of the Capitalist campaign to dismantle the social safety networks created over past decades is the proposal to reduce the rights of employees not to be sacked on the employer's whim.
This is quite wrong. Anyone who wants a living and is willing to work is owed a living. This is part of the price to be paid for society's recognition of private property and the legitimacy of inheritance. The existence of private property means that possibilities are ruled out for others: because society recognizes the lawfulness of the Duke of Omnium's inherited estate worth x billion, him having done nothing to merit such abundance, that property is not available for use by others.
Employers, including Branson, have popped up whining about an inflexible jobs market, as if it was their dearest wish to employ as many people as possible and only the heavy hand of state regulation is preventing them. This is of course insulting balderdash. The very nature of Capitalism demands businesses reduce labour costs as much as possible.
Underlying this, it is quite grotesque that having a job - with all that means in terms of your life, your position in society - should depend on the benevolence of individual Capitalists.
Of course, the destruction of the idea of right to employment is key to Capitalist exploitation of labour. For jobs matter. Any sort of 'Big', or more accurately Good Society must start with jobs. Employment is crucial to the well-being of society. It reduces crime, it boosts the economy, it increases tax revenue. Most importantly it gives everyone a stake in a civilised society. It is a social and an individual good. Of course, under Capitalism the employed are there to be exploited but having a job is nevertheless a social good.
If you are unemployed, the current Capitalist state will not let you starve but it will make life hard for you. It believes it has no obligation to provide work, that is the role of private enterprise (though it is happy to give private companies contracts so wealthy individuals with shares in the companies benefit from cheap labour). A clear proof of its priorities is that it is quite happy to print money to give directly to banks but will not use the money to boost jobs through capital spending.
Crocodile tears are shed over the jobless by right wing Governments but in truth, they have no sympathy. The neo-liberal ideology is simple and clear and it's based on the law of supply and demand. If people are out of work it must be their own fault in wanting too much money or not moving. Of course, if wages fall too much then social security provision becomes preferable, so then the obvious need is to reduce social security provision. Thus the latest manifestation of the Capitalist campaign to dismantle the social safety networks created over past decades is the proposal to reduce the rights of employees not to be sacked on the employer's whim.
