This note follows from discussion some 10 days ago, which brought me
from the shadows of lurk. The discussion points to a practical case
study which could be used to focus attention on alternative work
futures.
On the subject of an 'Alternative Investment Code' Richard Douthwaite
argued that 'Net capital flows between countries, or even between one
part of a country and another, need to be completely prohibited if we
are ever to construct a sustainable world.'
Greg Macleod responded: Your analysis of capital transfer is very good,
but the problem is to find an alternative. I can't see a closed economic
system as surviving...We would like to build a hotel in Yucatan but
owned by mayans.
How do we finance it. One idea.. sell shares in foreign currency , but
pay dividends in free days in the hotel?? Could we sell shares at $
5000. each and pay with two free weeks per year .. it would be near the
Uxmal pyramid in the Yucatan.
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To stimulate discussion about alternative approaches to work, let me
contribute the following thoughts.
The Uxmal pyramid is the attractor for tourists, more interesting than
the hotel itself. How was the pyramid built? Pursuit of this question
may provide clues as to how (let alone why) to build a tourist hotel.
By what system of social/economic organisation was the pyramid
constructed? How was it 'funded'? How without modern-day labour-saving
technology, without international finance, or federal government
funding, could the Mayans construct a vast monument, now an attractor
for tourists from around the world?
Perhaps the pyramid was a manifestation of Mayan subjection to slavery
by tyrannical Mayan lords, but that would likely be a misleading
historical reading of the times? I am not familiar with the details of
the Mayan culture. The same question however could be asked of the
construction of Europe's gothic cathedrals, about which I am more
familiar. These world wonders were constructed and resourced almost
entirely by town-sized communities, with the help of roving freemasons.
How could such buildings be afforded? Clearly there was a dedication
here to something greater than tourist dollars. Work was worship.
These monumental construction events, were major art festivals in
themselves, the central preoccupation, the entertainment of the
community, to which all contributed, on site, or in the provision of
resources and sustenance.
Greg's ideas for the building a hotel and funding the building process
clearly flow from a very different, and I would argue unsustainable,
economic paradigm, one resting on the pseudo-morality of the current
work ethic - what Connolly refers to an 'ideology of sacrifice'.
Working life today is life to be lived as a 'cost', delayed
gratification requiring monetary recompense. The idea of 'financing'
the building of a hotel flows from the now taken-for-granted expectation
that financial incentives (or equivalent) are needed to motivate people
to sacrifice themselves. We expect the plumber and electricial to say,
sure I'll help build the bloody hotel (sacrifice my precious time) if I
get paid, properly. When the pay stops, work stops. Capital investors
are likewise motivated. I'll lend you (not give you) some of my
precious money only if I get it back with interest. As one ethical
investment fund sums it up; the amount of interest (% return) demanded
is inversely proportional to the real interest in the project.
I speak from experience as an architect. If financed through
borrowings, the building process will, indeed must, proceed at breakneck
speed in order to bring the returns to offset interest payments. This
only perpetuates the sacrificial quality of life, so familiar to the
building industry (I speak from experience as an Architect). After a
year of frenzied activity, the hotel will be complete and the builders
will once again be unemployed. When the hotel opens, it will be in the
interest of management to keep staffing costs to a minimum to ensure
that building costs can be recouped. The Mayans are likely to be
employed for long hours and low wages, as obsequious servants, pandering
to the whims of far wealthier visitors who have come to witness the
manifestation of a more worshipful way of working and living. An irony
indeed.
So my first question to Greg is: what is the real interest by the Mayans
in the hotel? What priority or meaning does the hotel have in their
lives? To what extent does the community 'own' the idea? Is the hotel
desired for its own sake, or is it viewed as a means to other ends?
What are these ends? Could these ends be provided for more directly?
It seems to me, that much might be gained by a more deeply refective,
values-building, community development process involving the Mayan
community along with organisers from afar such as Greg, which focuses
attention on considerations such as discussed, with a view to deciding a
preferred, sustainable future of 'work'.
Cheers,
Richard Mochelle
