[PEN-L:9213] correction
Why is Yugoslavia any different? It represents a perversion of the socialist idea. "Self-interest" was one of the guiding principles of the original project, a dubious one in light of the original Marxist vision of "from each according to their needs, to each according to their ability." This of course should be "from each according to their ability, to each according to their need".
[PEN-L:9214] more on co-ops and unemployment
Paul Phillips, writes that it is Horvat who rails against the Ward/Vanek model as empirically untrue -- in fact just the opposite. Right. But is the Ward model empirically wrong because it is logically flawed (because a worker co-op does not have an inherent tendency to be exclusive, to avoid expanding employment because it hurts insider interests) or is it empirically wrong because there are other things going on that counteract the posited inherent tendency (limits on co-op behavior by local and/or national government and/or political organizations such as the League of Communists)? Or could it be in between (a weak tendency to be exclusive, making it relatively easy for external forces to encourage a more socially-oriented policy)? I would also guess that when the political and economic situation collapses, the exclusivist in-group mentality would intensify or resurface, as the external institutional checks fade away. I really and truly hope that Paul Phillips is not retiring from contributing to pen-l so that he and others on the list could guide us toward an answer (or at least toward partial agreement with an agreement to disagree on some points). I think that Louis and everyone else have to refrain from anything that even seems to be personal attack. Sarcasm should be used with extreme care, too. As has been said many times over the years on pen-l, e-mail discussions strip off all of the body language and smiles that allow people to use mild personal attacks and sarcasm without deep-sixing a discussion. Humility helps. (BTW, it's also a really bad idea to carry antagonisms from previous discussions or from other lists into current discussions. Just because I _hate_ individual X's ideas about Y doesn't mean that his or her ideas are wrong about Z. People also change their minds.) Further, it's best to focus on only four types of argumentation (which cover a lot): (1) empirical propositions; (2) logical analysis; (3) methodology (how #1 and #2 work together to help us get a better understanding of truth); and (4) normative analysis. The last is especially tricky. A discussion of, for example, how "institution Y won't help us attain socialist goals" (or _will_ do so) can easily become a matter of name-calling. It's important to back up such propositions by making it clear what one's goals are (what one means by "socialism" or whatever) and being very specific (in terms of #1, #2, and #3) about why one is saying it. After all, people have different goals, different visions of socialism. I'm all in favor of citing books, even one's own (and I wish I had a book I could cite; maybe I should stop wasting so much time on pen-l). It only smacks of elitism when the citation is not accompanied by a short summary of what the book says and/or a discussion of the specific points of that book that pertain to the issue at hand. in pen-l solidarity, Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Econ. Dept., Loyola Marymount Univ. 7900 Loyola Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045-8410 USA 310/338-2948 (daytime, during workweek); FAX: 310/338-1950 "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- K. Marx, paraphrasing Dante A.
[PEN-L:9218] Footballer fined for supporting Mersey dockers (fwd)
Forwarded message: Date: Thu, 27 Mar 1997 23:51:50 GMT Reply-To: Forum on Labor in the Global Economy [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sender: Forum on Labor in the Global Economy [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: LabourNet [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Footballer fined for supporting Mersey dockers [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Football-UEFA fines Robbie Fowler $1,400 Source: Reuter GENEVA, March 27 - Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler was fined 2,000 Swiss Francs ($1,400) by European governing body UEFA on Thursday for his show of support for sacked dock workers during a European Cup Winners' Cup match. Ironically, Fowler had received a pat on the back from the world governing body FIFA on Tuesday for a display of fair play during an English premier league match against Arsenal. UEFA's Control and Disciplinary Committee made note of Fowler's sporting behaviour in assessing the punishment beginning its press release saying, "It may seem strange and even unfair...". After scoring his second goal in Liverpool's 3-0 Cup Winners' Cup win over Brann Bergen of Norway last week, Fowler lifted up his red Liverpool shirt to display a T-shirt which read: "Support The 500 Sacked Dockers". UEFA regulations prohibit players from displaying any political logos at matches. The press release noted that while UEFA may sympathise with such support, it strictly rules that a football ground is not the right stage for political demonstrations. Two days earlier, Fowler was praised for his sense of fair play when he argued against a penalty call after he appeared to be brought down in the penalty area by England goalkeeper David Seaman. However, as referee Gerald Ashby signalled the penalty, Fowler protested that he had not been fouled. "Your reaction in the penalty incident...did you great honour. It is the kind of reaction which helps maintain the dignity of the game," said FIFA general secretary Sepp Blatter.
[PEN-L:9220] Re: FW: BLS Daily Report
Hi Michael -- Actually it does not mean anything in particular about the composition of output. The frequency of injuries has been falling steadily since 1992 in both goods and services. No reason is given for the decrease. The news release can be found on our web site at http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/oshnews.htm. Dave Richardson BLS -- Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 1997 6:07 PM Subject: [PEN-L:9179] Re: FW: BLS Daily Report Very interesting. Does this mean that more manufacturing jobs are going abroad and that service jobs are safer than manufacturing? Certainly, it is not a growing interest in safety. Richardson_D wrote: BLS DAILY REPORT, TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 1997 Workplace injuries fell in 1995 to their lowest rate in nearly a decade, says BLS, according to an item in The Wall Street Journal's "Work Week" column (page A1). A total of 6.6 million injuries and illnesses were reported that year, the latest for which statistics a -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 916-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:9226] IRIS PEN
Michael Perelman: I mentioned this before, but iris pen makes a pen scanner that you can take to the library with a notebook computer. It is probably not as accurate as a flat bed, but I can scan in much the same way that I could highlight one of my books. What kind of pen is it? What is the price? Where can we order it? Can you give more information? Fikret
[PEN-L:9229] Bre-X-files
Virtual Juxtaposition Helicopter bungee jumping into the borneo rainforest meets "extraterrestrial biological entity" cult suicide in San Diego: coincidence or sign? Next week on the Bre-X-files: Albania annexes Wall Street Bre-X Minerals: In a news release, Bre-X Minerals Ltd. (BXMNF) said: 'It is with great sadness that we have to announce that Mike de Guzman, Bre-X's chief geologist at the Busang gold deposit, fell approximately 800 feet from a helicopter as he was returning to the mine site in East Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia. This is a tragic development, and our hearts and prayers are with Mike's family.' The company said a search and rescue team is conducting an extensive search of the area. Heaven's Gate: "In the early 1970's, two members of the Kingdom of Heaven (or what some might call two aliens from space) incarnated into two unsuspecting humans in Houston, a registered nurse and a college music professor who were in their forties. The nurse and the professor hadn't previously known each other and had completely separate lives. The registered nurse was happily married with four children, worked in the nursery of a local hospital, and enjoyed a small astrology practice. The music professor, a divorcee who had lived with a male friend for some years, was contentedly involved in cultural and academic activities. "For about a year before they met, their lives seemed to encounter severe upheaval and personal confusion, later recognized as the human body's response to the entry of the minds from what "the two" referred to as the "Next Level," or the physical level above human. About nine months after they first met, they left Houston because their lives, which were crumbling around them, made it impossible to concentrate on what was actually happening to them. .. . . (snip, snip, snip, snip) "In spite of their repeated effort to refute this explanation, all things continue to lead them to believe the following (Hold onto your hats!): "They were briefed as a crew aboard a spacecraft about how they would incarnate into human vehicles in order to do a task. They left their Kingdom "world" and came into this "world" beginning in the late 1940's. They feel that some left their Next Level bodies via so-called UFO "crashes." However, they believe that the crashes were not accidental, as they appeared to be to the humans who witnessed the remains and recovered some of the bodies. These are now in the possession of governments (one of our Government's scientists coined the term "EBE" -- extraterrestrial biological entities -- to identify these beings, also frequently referred to as "greys"). Some left their bodies behind in "cold storage," or the Next Level's wardrobe, for the duration of this task. Others were in "spirit," having not yet earned Next Level bodies since having left the human kingdom. Regards, Tom Walker ^^ knoW Ware Communications | Vancouver, B.C., CANADA | "Only in mediocre art [EMAIL PROTECTED] |does life unfold as fate." (604) 669-3286| ^^ The TimeWork Web: http://mindlink.net/knowware/worksite.htm
[PEN-L:9227] Re: IRIS PEN
Here is the home page. It is shaped like a big, thick highlighter. It connects to the printer port of the laptop. Fikret Ceyhun wrote: Michael Perelman: I mentioned this before, but iris pen makes a pen scanner that you can take to the library with a notebook computer. It is probably not as accurate as a flat bed, but I can scan in much the same way that I could highlight one of my books. What kind of pen is it? What is the price? Where can we order it? Can you give more information? Fikret -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 916-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:9225] Re: Slovenia
B. Rosser asks if worker owned industries exploit their workers. My point was that in a market capitalist economy worker-owned industries would produce to maximise or at the very least satisfice return on investment and there is no guarantee that this would correspond with social needs. I don't see that the workers as a group are not in the same situation as the individual owner proprietor but on a larger scale. Wouldn't the worker-owner be motivated to promote pro-business policies such as lower corporate taxes, less costly regulation. Wouldn't the group as a whole impose downsizing etc in order to compete effectively. Minority ownership by those bought out or let go would not stop this. Wouldn't they be tempted to hire temporary non-owners at lower wages and appropriate the surplus collectively etc. etc. By the way, are most industries privatized to the workers or to the public in general or what? This wasn't clear to me. In theory a worker-owned industry would return surplus value to the worker's themselves--but one would have to know the actual details of ownership and also how the industry was in actuality controlled to know how the surplus is actually distributed. Even capitalist owner's have been known to complain of a separation of ownership and control! While I have no detailed knowledge of the situation in Yugoslavia there was an economist who studied the Yugoslav economy (I can't recall his name) who visited here a couple of years ago who maintained that there was considerable regional disparity and the better off regions showed little desire or understanding of the problems of workers in poorer areas. Rather they tended to see the situation as poor management, work habits, etc. and felt they should fail rather than be subsidized by the central state. He also thought that in many cases worker control was on paper rather than actual, that many workers were passive not active and that actual control was exerted by a few in most cases. My main point remains though that I always have understood socialism as involving production for social need rather than profit. Having the profit go to worker-owned industries doesn't seem to change the fact that one would still have production for profit. Cheers, Ken Hanly
[PEN-L:9224] yet more co-ops and unemployment
I'm very glad that Paul Phillips decided to return after his short break. He writes I find it somewhat ironical that we, who rail against the neoclassical model, accept a neoclassical model to judge the behaviour of co-ops, socially owned firms etc. The Ward-Vanek model begins with the same assumptions as the standard neoclassical -- maximization, methodological individualism, substitution (choice theoretic), and market clearing equilibrium, plus (of course) a measurable marginal product of labour and capital. I don't think that the idea that worker-owned co-ops would have a tendency to limit employment needs to be based on these assumptions. The original Ward model is based on the idea of a _group_ seeking to attain its collective goals while ignoring other issues, such as the status of the unemployed, rather than methodological individualism. Maximization seems tautological (since even the insane can be seen as maximizing utility since they get pleasure out of lunacy) but even when it's not (because the objective function is well-specified), it serves as a guide for tendencies that might work out under the more-reasonable satisficing. It's not based on market-clearing at all, since it's a pure micro-level argument (I'm not talking about Vanek); the equilibrium is only for the co-op. Substitution, yes, but it need not be the smooth kind that neoclassicals emphasize: instead of technical substitution (and measureable MPs of L and K), one can think of a factory where workers choose between admitting new permanent members to the club or hiring lower-paid temps. The incentive, absent solidaristic consciousness, is to do the latter. The same can be applied to a different kind of decision: a co-op is dominated by folks of Serbian extraction and has to decide whether to hire another Serb or a Bosnian Moslem. The neoclassical model's key assumption is the lack of solidaristic consciousness (and action), the assumption that the co-op's members don't care about the fate of people outside the club. The rational core of this assumption is that the competition of co-ops and the existence of unemployment might encourage the co-ops to circle the wagons to defend their status, while the institution of the co-op itself doesn't encourage solidarity. (A lot of plywood co-ops in the US act like exclusive clubs, I understand, never expanding membership, so that when the membership retires, so does the co-op.) (This posited behavior of co-ops is not that different from what traditional craft unions do in the United States: these unions are often (if not usually) democratic, but are exclusionary in their attitudes. This, by the way, is part of the long-standing socialist critique of craft organizations. Industrial and amalgamated unions are very different, though I've noticed that even many of these have been willing to cut "two-tier wage" deals with management, excluding new hires from the full benefits of unionization.) On the other hand, if the co-ops were established by a grass-roots socialist movement, the movement's feelings of solidarity might persist. If the co-ops are enmeshed in an institutional network that encourages the hiring of oursiders, that could undermine exclusionary attitudes. For example, if the board of directors of each co-op includes representatives of local government (hopefully democratically elected), some of the lack of solidarity would be undermined. But then we move away from the workers' co-op pure and simple. Is there some sort of model that suggests that there's no incentive at all for a co-op to eschew increases in employment? also, does Horvat make a purely theoretical critique of the neoclassical model? if so, is there an empirical literature about this issue? I'm off. No more until Monday or Tuesday, since my new home Pentium somehow can't communicate with the internet. The advances of technology! in pen-l solidarity, Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Econ. Dept., Loyola Marymount Univ. 7900 Loyola Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045-8410 USA 310/338-2948 (daytime, during workweek); FAX: 310/338-1950 "It takes a busload of faith to get by." -- Lou Reed.
[PEN-L:9223] Re: Paul Phillips' MR article
Louis Proyect wrote: I went to the Columbia library at lunch and typed them in. As I don't have a scanner, I mentioned this before, but iris pen makes a pen scanner that you can take to the library with a notebook computer. It is probably not as accurate as a flat bed, but I can scan in much the same way that I could highlight one of my books. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 916-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:9219] Paul Phillips' MR article
These countries have limited options, and none of them is satisfactory. The obvious option, further borrowing, is not at all attractive to the debtors themselves. Additional loans, even if they could be obtained, would quickly make the debt problem worse. At prevailing borrowing rates, it takes a trade surplus with western countries of at least 10 percent of the value of a loan just to pay the interest on it, and a much larger fraction if the loan is to be amortized. To create such a surplus, the authorities must suppress domestic consumption or slash public services. In countries where democratic forces can make political repression extremely problematic, this suppression of demand is not likely to be feasible. Even such oppressive regimes as South Korea and Chile are not finding it hard to repress their populations in the name of capital accumulation. Economists in both Hungary and Yugoslavia have urged that their countries avoid the burden of higher interest and amortization payments by pursuing a second option, the promotion of direct foreign investment, including the sale of domestic enterprises to foreign investors and the establishment of joint ventures between foreign firms and state firms (in Hungary) or cooperatively-owned firms (in Yugoslavia). Success in attracting foreign investment has been very limited so far. This is probably fortunate, since this alternative only promises "long-term pain for short-term gain." Foreign firms invest in a host country for three main reasons: to take advantage of low-wage labor to produce labor-intensive manufactures for re-export, to get access to or control over raw material supplies, or to capture a share of the host-country market. But neither Hungary or Yugoslavia has industrial regions with much unemployed labor, and neither is particularly well endowed with natural resources. And foreign investment to exploit domestic markets is perhaps the least attractive option. Such firms are likely to spend much of their initial investment on capital goods from the home country and to repatriate their substantial earnings and depreciation allowances. Many of their managers and technical personnel will come from the home country, so few good jobs are created. And judging from the Canadian experience, they will import an unusually large proportion of their material inputs. Thus the second option, to attract foreign investment, does little to alleviate the balance-of-payments problem that is as the root of the current crisis. A third option was pursued in Romania: squeeze the living standards of the workers to the point where the import of consumption goods is drastically reduced, expropriate the domestic surplus and use it to pay off foreign debts. The human welfare cost, however, is enormous and would not be politically acceptable in the liberalized Hungary or Yugoslavia of today. The ideal situation would be for the western industrial powers to cancel at least a considerable portion of the accumulated debts. Not surprisingly, their banks are reluctant to do this, though in fact they have done so as much by unloading large amounts of it on a rapidly-depreciating secondary market. (Yugoslavia's debt in September was being sold for 55 cents on the dollar.) An obvious solution, of course, would be to repudiate the debt, but this would conflict with the aim of both Hungary and Yugoslavia (and Poland, for that matter) to increase their economic integration with the west. As long as the Soviet economy wallows in the doldrums, these countries have few good alternatives to repudiation. Yugoslavia has made some small headway recently in reducing its debt exposure. Some enterprises have reportedly taken low-quality goods from the Soviet Union in exchange for Soviet trade debts, sold them at discount in western markets, and used the proceeds to repurchase Yugoslav debt on the secondary market at 45 percent discount. According to a Globe and Mail report (18 September 1989) this and other forms of direct buyback have reduced Yugoslavia's western bank debts by close to a billion dollars. However, this is a relatively small dent in the problem. The real danger is that Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Poland will attribute their debt-induced problems to their political and economic institutions. If they do, and alter the latter without solving the former, they risk trading their relatively egalitarian societies and comprehensive welfare systems for the stagnation, inequality, and appalling poverty of so much of Latin America. (These are the final paragraphs of Paul Phillips' February 1990 Monthly Review article "The Debt Crisis and Change in Eastern Europe." I went to the Columbia library at lunch and typed them in. As I don't have a scanner, this labor-intensive job is meant as an olive branch. I also want to plead guilty of staging an elaborate hoax. I've been spending much too much time with Alan Sokal. There is no such person as "Bruno Hladjz, the Inspector General of the
[PEN-L:9217] Forwarded mail...
Forwarded message: Date: Fri, 28 Mar 1997 06:50:03 -0800 (PST) To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: The Africa Fund [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] NOW AVAILABLE FROM THE AFRICA FUND OGONI The Struggle Continues by Dr. Deborah Robinson published by the World Council of Churches 106 pages - January 1997 "A quiet state of siege prevails even today in Ogoniland. Intimidation, rape, arrests, torture, shooting and looting by the soldiers continue to occur." Ogoni: The Struggle Continues The Ogoni people of Nigeria have suffered extensive environmental pollution and political repression under the military dictatorship of General Sani Abacha. The Ogoni crisis was catapulted onto the world stage in November 1995 when the military government executed Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni environmentalists who were members of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP). Now this struggle has been exhaustively documented in a special report published by the World Council of Churches, Ogoni: The Struggle Continues. Written by Dr. Deborah Robinson of the WCC's Program to Combat Racism, who visited Ogoniland in 1996, the report includes detailed background on the economic and political situation in Nigeria, a history of the military dictatorship and an extensive review of the role of the oil industry in Nigeria's political economy. Ogoni: The Struggle Continues gives details of the role played by the Nigerian authorities in the oppression of the Ogoni. First-hand accounts of arrests, beatings and torture are recounted."Ogoniland remains under military occupation," the report notes. It confirms MOSOP's claims of environmental devastation by Shell Petroleum Development Corporation. Robinson relates accounts of the harassment and arrest of church leaders; one minister told her about pastors who have been told what they may preach and pray. Please send me copies of Ogoni: The Struggle Continues at $8.00 ($5.00 each plus $3.00 postage. Orders for U.S. and Canada only.) Name Organization Address CityState Zip Make checks payable to: The Africa Fund, 17 John Street, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10038 Phone: (212) 962-1210 Fax: (212) 964-8570 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:9216] FW: BLS Daily Report
BLS DAILY REPORT, THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 1997 Wage data compiled in the first 12 weeks of 1997 show a median first-year wage increase of 3 percent an hour. In manufacturing agreements, the year-to-date median wage increase is 3 percent an hour, and, in nonmanufacturing settlements (excluding construction), the year-to-date median wage increase is also 3 percent (Daily Labor Report, page D-3). The 1990s saw black women enter higher-paying managerial and professional jobs in record numbers, but Hispanic women were still likely to hold low-paying service jobs, the Women's Bureau said in three separate fact sheets. The bureau found that more black and Hispanic women are in the U.S. labor force than ever before, but that most women continue to earn less than their male counterparts Most of the statistics contained in the fact sheets are from BLS and the Census Bureau (Daily Labor Report, page A-9). __In the year 2050, more Americans will be old, retired, Asian, and Hispanic, a new Census Bureau report, "The State of the Nation, 1997," says. The bureau predicts a slow-growing population that will increase to 394 million by the middle of the next century. The slow growth is due in large part to the progress of baby boomers out of their reproductive years and into retirement There are now some 265 million Americans, for whom the Census Bureau paints a rosy picture of declining poverty, relatively stable child care arrangements, higher levels of education, and an overall increase in real household income. The number of people living in poverty dropped significantly between 1994 and 1995, from 38.1 million to 36.4 million, the report said Thirty percent of American children were being cared for in organized day-care programs in 1993, the most recent year for which figures were available Some 41 million Americans lacked health insurance in 1995, a figure unchanged from the previous year .(Washington Post, page A11). __For the first time in six years, there was an increase in real median household income. From 1994 to 1995, it climbed by 2.7 percent, to $34,076 from $33,178. But the median earnings of individual women working full time year year round actually declined 1.5 percent after adjusting for inflation, from $22,834 in 1994 to $22,497 in 1995. Men held roughly steady at $31,496. And women still earn only 71 cents for every dollar that a man earns for the same work In 1995, 82 percent of adults over 25 years old had completed high school, and 23 percent had earned a bachelor's degree or more. Both figures are record highs (New York Times, page A32). __Hispanics seen as the largest minority by 2005, and, by the middle of the next century, they will outnumber all other minority groups combined (Washington Times, page A6). The Commerce Department reports that new orders for manufactured durable goods advanced 1.5 percent in February, buoyed by increased bookings for electrical equipment and for industrial machinery and equipment (Daily Labor Report, page D-1)_Orders for durables jump, a sign of stronger growth (New York Times, page D3; Wall Street Journal, page A2; Washington Times, page B7). Labor productivity in mining has soared in the 1980-95 period thanks to advances in technology and a period of relative labor harmony, Joel Darmstadtor, an economist with Resources for the Future, told a gathering in Washington, D.C. Although the United States extracted more coal in 1996 than in 1980, employment dropped from 246,000 to 100,000, according to data from BLS (Daily Labor Report, page A-7).
[PEN-L:9215] Re: correction
Why is Yugoslavia any different? It represents a perversion of the socialist idea. "Self-interest" was one of the guiding principles of the original project, a dubious one in light of the original Marxist vision of "from each according to their needs, to each according to their ability." This of course should be "from each according to their ability, to each according to their need". Sorry to be picky; actually, the above is grammatically incorrect (relating "each" and "their"). No possessive pronoun is necessary; it should be: "From each according to ability; to each according to need." Blair Sandler [EMAIL PROTECTED] "It is astonishing what foolish things one can temporarily believe if one thinks too long alone, particularly in economics" -- J. M. Keynes, the Preface to the GENERAL THEORY
[PEN-L:9212] Foreign Powers Intent On Saving Albania From A People's Power
As foreign powers continue to pledge whatever help Albania needs to restore its forces of law and order and the political institutions which are designed to keep the people out of power, it becomes more and more clear that the main aim of both the foreign powers and the Government of National Reconciliation is to save Albanians from themselves, from re-establishing their own power, in which sovereignty is vested in the people. A British diplomat described the committees established in the south as nothing but "Soviets" to be defeated if "democracy" is to be restored in Albania. The deputy foreign minister of Albania, Albert Rakipi, also used the occasion of a working visit of a delegation of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, headed by its Secretary General Onur Oymen, on Monday, to stress "the importance to respect the democratic institutions and their support by all political forces, which also corresponds with the application of the platform of the agreement reached among Albanian political forces, which concluded in the establishment of the National Reconciliation Government," Albanian news agencies stress. "This is the only way to solve the crisis in Albania and make possible the normal atmosphere to hold free and democratic elections," he said. For his part, Oymen assured him of Turkey's support "in the bilateral plan, as well as in the context of the international organization where it adheres (NATO)." Oymen expressed support for the crisis on the basis of "the resolution of the Albanian political forces for the establishment and support of the National Reconciliation Government," saying this is the guarantee that democratic institutions will be respected and violence will be avoided "which causes big problems not only for Albania, but also for the Balkans and broader." Even though British parliamentary institutions are facing a deep political crisis of credibility as Britain enters another election, nonetheless, it invited the Albanian parliamentarians to learn from the British model. On Monday, Albanian Speaker Pjeter Arbnori met on his request with the Ambassador of Great Britain in Tirana, Trezorier. Arbnori stressed that "the Albanian Parliament is determined to do its utmost to restore the constitutional order and stabilize democracy in the country," Albanian news agencies report. "The Parliament has supported and supports the National Reconciliation Government, meanwhile that it does recognise none of the military committees, except legal bodies", said Arbnori. Trezorier "expressed his support for the legal institutions in Albania and particularly for the Albanian Parliament." He invited Arbnori to "make a visit in England of the Albanian parliamentarians. Arbnori accepted the invitation and underlined that the Albanian parliamentary delegation, who will visit England on the occasion of the elections to be held there, would be made up of all the parties which take up seats in parliament." It was the British secret services which, along with the American ones, engaged in covert operations in Albania, including terrorist ones, to overthrow the people's power in that country under the hoax that it was "illegal" and a "dictatorship." When it comes to establishing and maintaining their own rule of law, no brutal act is called a crime. When, however, it comes to the people's power, everything is called a crime. In their zeal for restoring what they call "democratic institutions" in Albania, the very institutions which brought this crisis in the first place, they have even gone a step further by describing as "humanitarian aid" the weapons which are being provided to the Albanian police to "restore order." The news agencies informed that on Monday Italy refused to accept any more Albanian refugees and says "it will start turning away the boats." According to the Italian government, "the people fleeing aren't necessarily those most affected by the rebellion, and that they are simply looking for jobs and a better way of life." The Italian coast guard has begun to "escort" back to Albania any vessels headed for her shores. Shawgi Tell University at Buffalo Graduate School of Education [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:9211] A Jobless Generation? (Canada)
More figures have been released to document the fact that the capitalist economic system provides no future for the youth. According to Statistics Canada, one in five youth has never worked, and their prospects for finding work are worse now than the situation facing youth when the recession began in 1989. The employment rate for 15 to 24 year olds has fallen more than 11 percentage points, to 51 per cent, since 1989 when the recession began. Almost half of those who are finding jobs are only working part-time, compared with about 21 per cent in 1989. The unemployment rate for high school graduates has jumped to 17.8 per cent, double the overall rate, and 25 per cent of the unemployed are working part-time. The Statistics Canada report also shows that summer employment, traditionally relied upon for students to be able to at least partially finance their studies, is becoming harder and harder to get. The rate of summer employment fell from 69 per cent in 1989 to only 52 per cent in 1996, and this rate of "employment" includes part-time jobs, which accounted for over 58 per cent of the jobs. In a related study, conducted at York University, it was revealed that only 54 per cent of York graduates who looked for full-time work were able to find any after one year. The study also confirmed the growing prevalence of jobs being obtained by virtue of privilege and economic status. Amongst York students from families with incomes above $100,000, 70 per cent were employed three months after graduation, compared with only 31 per cent of those from families earning less than $26,000. The study also revealed that national minority youth, no matter how long they have been in Canada, continue to face discrimination in employment. While 58 per cent of graduates of European descent found work, the levels dropped to 54 per cent for students of South Asian background, 40 per cent for black students, and 35 per cent for Chinese students. Shawgi Tell University at Buffalo Graduate School of Education [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:9210] Re: Slovenian/Yugoslavia
Peter Phillips: Dear friends, After Louis' last piece of venom that attacked, not only me, but my acquaitances that may (or may not) agree with me, but who have never heard of Louis Proyet, I must withdraw from further discussion on pen-l. Louis: Oh for christ's sake, mellow out. When somebody like yourself talks about how some member of the ruling party in Macedonia whispered in your ear that everything is on the upswing there, what else do you expect except ridicule. Well, I take that back. I suppose this may be just the sort of thing that carries weight over on PEN-L. I personally think it is elitist. When you make constant references to books you've written, to 7 year old articles, to government officials who you have the inside track to, but don't "have the time" to develop your ideas here on a public forum like PEN-L, this is a slap in the face to people who lack such venues or such inside information. Some day there may not be academic publishing houses and all discourse of this type will be on the Internet where the untutored mob will be able to critique it openly. Why not get used to it now. I think what is really bugging you is that you have no answer to the basic charge: Slovenia represents "white flight" from Yugoslavia. Some socialist ideal. The Slovenians you identify with wanted to be integrated into "civilized" Europe and leave the dirty, lazy, uneducated and unproductive Eastern Europeans behind like a bad memory. People like Schweickart who bought into the myth of Yugoslavia have done a remarkably poor job of explaining why such a positive role model turned into a living hell. I may take the trouble to track down Paul Phillips' article, but since he has locked himself in his bedroom and refuses to talk to me, I'm not sure I will bother. The only members of the Yugoslavia-Slovenia fan club that I have met on the Internet are Justin Schwartz and Barkley Rosser. They also love to tell you about those rising GDP figures, but also have temporary black-outs when it comes to the subject of the Balkan killing fields. I always thought there was a connection between economics and politics--especially the politics of war--, but this connection gets suspended whenever the topic of Slovenia comes up. For people to talk about the wonderful Yugoslavian model is so bizarre that it can only have life in the cloistered world of left economists. Yugoslavia should be mentioned in the same breath as Cambodia. Would you tell working people in Canada that Cambodia, with its mountains of skulls, was a socialist model? Why is Yugoslavia any different? It represents a perversion of the socialist idea. "Self-interest" was one of the guiding principles of the original project, a dubious one in light of the original Marxist vision of "from each according to their needs, to each according to their ability." When things started to turn sour on the economic front for reasons that had nothing to do with conditions *inside* Yugoslavia, the prosperous republics jumped ship and Bosnia got caught in the middle. You have nothing to say about this bleeding wound but talk about the GDP statistics of Slovenia. No wonder you want to evade an open discussion. ** A final word to Peter Bohmer: My purpose on PEN-L is the same as always has been. To speak to the graduate students and working people who have no particular vested interest in doctrines such as market socialism. The mail I received yesterday from one such person is just what I need to keep me going: --- Louis, it's xxx, the grad student in xxx at xxx who presented a paper on the xxx at the xxx symposium. Sharryn Kasmir also presented at the symposium. Her talk focused on the role of Basque nationalism both as the impetus for and changes within Mondragon. The genesis of Mondragon played up the national tradition of Basques which was largely absent landless labor. So from the beginning Mondragon has had a Petit-B orientation - this demonstrates for me the complexity of class and national relations, which I don't have any pat answers to. Kasmir struck me as bright and focused on the right kinds of questions. She and Ian Skoggard, an anthropologist at Yale, are editing a new book on changing property structures as capital advances. Your comment about Slovenia bailing on Yugo when the going got tough was spot on. Market socialism structurally encourages organizational practices which are antithetical to societal well being (in econ talk, markets impose the drive to externalize). What the MSers totally fail to grasp is that socialism isn't just a groovey restuarant in Athens Ohio, but will have to be global in scope. As such MS is just a quick road back to where we are today. Also, the MSer's totally fail on the environmental question. Resource finitude will compel planning and even undemocratic planning in certain circumstances. Example:
