It seems very clear to me that the idea that "work" is effort that is "paid for" is based on the assumption that human beings and their labor are commodities as Marx pointed out so long ago. Economic texts , as far as I know, simply ignore this fact or just assume its validity without discussion about it.
The phrasing of your question, Ray, makes it very clear. Given this assumption, how can anyone not understand why there is such a spiritual void in Western Civilization. Selma From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ray Harrell Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2011 9:15 AM To: [email protected]; 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION' Subject: Re: [Futurework] FW: [TriumphOfContent] Dirty Jobs creator on the need for skilled tradespeople in America "Economists divide the time of work and leisure. Work is any activity for which the worker gets paid. Leisure time includes the remaining hours for which the worker doesn't get paid. Thus, leisure may involve a great deal of effort and energy (for example, cleaning a home or taking care of children or a Concert Pianist's individual practice for upkeep of his skills) A higher real wage increases the reward for "working" and thereby increases the opportunity cost of leisure time." Can anyone find the flaw in these economic theories from a standard generic text on economics? Maybe we should ask the mothers, wives or concert pianists. REH From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Harry Pollard Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 9:27 PM To: 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION' Subject: Re: [Futurework] FW: [TriumphOfContent] Dirty Jobs creator on the need for skilled tradespeople in America In the 50's in Toronto, I had an unemployed welder in an adult class. He had been picked up by the Ontario government to teach welding. He put the 21 students through their welding class. I asked him what happened when they finished. "We had 22 unemployed welders," he said. Harry ****************************** Henry George School of Los Angeles Box 655 Tujunga CA 91042 (818) 352-4141 ****************************** From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ray Harrell Sent: Friday, May 13, 2011 11:55 AM To: 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION' Subject: Re: [Futurework] FW: [TriumphOfContent] Dirty Jobs creator on the need for skilled tradespeople in America In the school my father built in the Quapaw Nation, that was founded on the core values of the Performing Arts, vocational technology was a requirement for every student. I learned to build houses and cabinetry. We had plenty of welders and auto mechanics as well as accountants and people capable of business skills. But the core values that created the discipline for the skills were based in the performing arts and in sports. In high school with 400 students we had 150 students singing in three choirs. Others were in instrumental ensembles and non-musical performing arts. The key word here was the development of performance as an abstract principle. They had theater and debate and they had statewide competitions in all skills to stimulate the desire to excel. Today we have vouchers and they cut the core values of performance in favor of dull speed courses and intensives that destroy the childhood and maturation of adolescents. Today is not a culture that I have much identity with. It seems to work against the Information age and the skills of the young. REH From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Michael Gurstein Sent: Friday, May 13, 2011 2:43 PM To: 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION' Subject: [Futurework] FW: [TriumphOfContent] Dirty Jobs creator on the need for skilled tradespeople in America -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of gary Sent: Saturday, May 14, 2011 12:44 AM To: Triumph of Content Subject: [TriumphOfContent] Dirty Jobs creator on the need for skilled tradespeople in America Sent to you by gary via Google Reader: Dirty Jobs creator on the need for skilled tradespeople in America <http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/lxT3HbVYevc/dirty-jobs-cr eator-o.html> via Boing Boing <http://www.boingboing.net/> by Cory Doctorow on 5/12/11 Mike Rowe, creator of the TV show "Dirty Jobs," testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on the de-skilling of America, and the way in which skilled manual labor has been undervalued and derided in the USA to its detriment: <http://craphound.com/images/mikerowetestifying.jpg> A few months ago in Atlanta I ran into Tom Vilsack, our Secretary of Agriculture. Tom told me about a governor who was unable to move forward on the construction of a power plant. The reason was telling. It wasn't a lack of funds. It wasn't a lack of support. It was a lack of qualified welders. In high schools, the vocational arts have all but vanished. We've elevated the importance of "higher education" to such a lofty perch that all other forms of knowledge are now labeled "alternative." Millions of parents and kids see apprenticeships and on-the-job-training opportunities as "vocational consolation prizes," best suited for those not cut out for a four-year degree. And still, we talk about millions of "shovel ready" jobs for a society that doesn't encourage people to pick up a shovel. In a hundred different ways, we have slowly marginalized an entire category of critical professions, reshaping our expectations of a "good job" into something that no longer looks like work. A few years from now, an hour with a good plumber -- if you can find one -- is going to cost more than an hour with a good psychiatrist. At which point we'll all be in need of both. I came here today because guys like my grandfather are no less important to civilized life than they were 50 years ago. Maybe they're in short supply because we don't acknowledge them they way we used to. We leave our check on the kitchen counter, and hope the work gets done. That needs to change. Testimony of Mike Rowe <http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/dirtyjobs/mike-rowe-senate-testimony.html > (via Reddit <http://reddit.com> ) <http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=e96764c4d3055e02a1a44c59a0287b64&p=1> <http://segment-pixel.invitemedia.com/pixel?code=TechCons&partnerID=167&key= segment> <http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-8bUhLiluj0fAw.gif?labels=pub.28925.rss. 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