Re: [Pen-l] Going Dutch

[Jim Devine <jdevine03@xxxxxxxxx>]

the dole may partly "decommodify" labor-power a little, but it's
important to put it in context: it's the result of labor struggles,
while as labor's power and/or militancy fades, it persists partly
because of popular resistance to cuts and partly because it promotes
efficiency in some way (as with most social-demcratic reforms). I'm
not totally sure about the last point...

On Fri, May 8, 2009 at 1:52 AM, McDonough, Terrence
<terrence.mcdonough@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> It's interesting we all in this thread missed the obvious Marxian response which is that welfare puts a floor on wage rates and contributes to decommodifying labor if only a little bit.  Of course this works better on this side of the water where everybody is eligible for "the dole".  The dole isn't justified because you are doing something.  You get it because you don't have a job.  The problem in the States is that a lot of payment is restricted to those raising children and the culture has changed to the point where this is not regarded as a sufficient "job" for women anymore.
>
> By the way I used to compare all the grants students get to welfare.  Most were indignant.  One woman, however, agreed with me.  Her family refused all this money precisely because they were too proud to accept government welfare.
>
> Terry
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-- 
Jim Devine / "If heart-aches were commercials, we'd all be on TV." -- John Prine
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