Re: Beef and revolution in Central America

[HANLY@xxxxxxxxxxx]

You're such a bonehead, Brian. 1) Work is an essential part of being human;
abolishing it is both impossible and undesirable.

COMMENT: Of course the first sentence is entirely correct. Brian has provided
all the evidence required to prove that. I would distinguish though between
work as alienated labor, that is labor that does not realize oneself as a human
and is done under necessity and not by choice and labor done by choice,
free labor. Under communism alienated labor is vastly
reduced but not abolished. Alienation associated with the division of labor
cannot be entirely overcome but the working day can be vastly reduced through
technological innovation (and of course there will be no need to continually
generate needs --eg. See Herbert Marcuse ONE DIMENSIONAL MAN re the infinite
consumer of economics.)  Labor is the means by which our thoughts and ideas
are made into reality and the environment becomes objectively humanised.
As Marx puts it nature is man's inorganic body.(If you mistreat your body
you mistreat yourself. If you degrade the environment then your humanity
is reflected externally as this degraded object. Labor as self-realisation
 should not be abolished of course.
  ALienated work as work that produces objects that are appropriated by another
and in which the products of work face one as an enemy (LUddites eg.)-Sorry
Carnell will never have heard of Luddites no doubt- should be abolished!
 Work that alienates one
>from one's species being as in the repetive mass production line where only a
small part of one's human powers are used can be partially overcome. Work
that makes one simply a slave to one's animal functions can be overcome, and so
can work that makes one's fellow human into enemies threatening one's being.
I need the job not the next poor bugger. If he gets it I am out of luck.
  Cheers, Ken Hanly



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