"In short, it has become an article of the creed of modern morality that all labour is good in itself - a convenient belief to those who live on the labour of others. But as to those on whom they live, I recommend them not to take it on trust, but to look into the matter a little deeper." William Morris, Useful Work Versus Useless Toil (1884)
Work eh? Can’t live with it, can’t live without it. Every product or service we use is created by work, by people deliberately changing one thing into another, transforming the world around them. But that isn’t the definition of work we normally hear about. Usually an activity isn’t called work unless someone else stands to make money off it, which means that looking after your children isn’t normally called work, but looking after another person’s children normally is, and government policy is currently aimed at getting single parents ‘into work’, as if they don’t have enough! It also means that if you create a piece of art for the enjoyment of yourself and others then that isn’t work, but when stockbrokers place bets on the success or failure of businesses it definitely is!
Now, as a recession unfolds, politicians are telling us there’s ‘not enough work’, and people around the world are being sacked in their hundreds of thousands, even though things clearly need more transforming than ever. We’re also seeing taxpayers’ money being given to those at the top of the pile, in the name of keeping the economy afloat. Something doesn’t add up.
Clearly, we need to examine what work means in 2008, and that’s what Nerve 13 does.
Nerve 14 will look at issues around the environment and food. Please get in touch if you would like to contribute something, or have any ideas. Contact us by emailing mail@catalystmedia.org.uk, or phone (0151) 709 9948 during office hours.
We’ve worked hard on this edition of Nerve, so we hope you enjoy it. Pick up a copy in News From Nowhere, Bold Street.
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good effort
29.12.2008 12:14
the idea of monotonous hard work being relaced by machines was a technical utopia forecaste in the early days of machinery by some pioneeers of socialst thought it is interesting today i nthe light of the juice that oils the machine cash is in liquidity crisis we should therefore discuss it widely.theorise and develpment of new ideas will come with the attempt to rsolve the problem. but first we must grasp the core problem work is what movement of armas and legs mechanical action like other animals possess or the bproduction of things of social use and socially necessary labour time expended?
mankinds enslavement by machine quickly dominated the scene why? well the issue of course was the product or the commodity the end result of all the slavery and toil and ultimate product of machinery.money credit finace capital
however this cash or "dead labour" or surplus value was at fist a godsend, and was responsible for the opening up of the world to trade and then to the growth of massive development vis vis the globe itself became a village..still with us so far..
this cash had blood dripping from it from the very start from the the first phonicians trading tallys to the fresh minted soverigns of the empire of britain wherever it went money brought development through industry and trade but it also brought massive exploitation and slavery unheard of in all empires or tyrannical periods of military rule
so the question ask what is work to help others can this be done without cash do we go medieval on our ass and bring back barting and co-op movement to offset the adverse effects of capital or money or the lets scheme of the 30s in the usa and later in britain hit by thatcher economics.
so the flipside of work is the end result what we produce how and what we do with it surplus of goods equal disribution or 2 legs good etc
johno