Max,
I always thought the argument Marxists made was that Capital is constantly
trying to find ways to ensure that more and more workers are in the
20K/yr. category, including those making 10 K a year.
On a strike line for American Airlines striking flight attendants in 1993
I can remember the very important role members of the Teamsters and
Ironworkers locals played in helping out flight attendants run a picket
line, defend themselves against company scare tactics,...one instance of
class solidarity that had little to do with average annual income.
Steve
Stephen Philion
Lecturer/PhD Candidate
Department of Sociology
2424 Maile Way
Social Sciences Bldg. # 247
Honolulu, HI 96822
On Tue, 9 Jan 2001, Max Sawicky wrote:
> The problem w/the marxist definitions is that,
> while they may have some bearing on how economies
> develop, they don't have much political, cultural,
> or sociological meaning. The $20K proprietor,
> nurse, factory operative, and even security
> guard have more in common with each other than any
> of them do with a $150K artisan, from any practical
> political standpoint, including a socialist or
> marxist one.
>
> mbs
>
>
>
> Hello-
> I'm curious - define "working class". Give me an
> income range. For example, a self-employed carpenter
> runs his own business and grosses 120k a year, is he
> part of the "working class"? What about the computer
> programmer who manages to pull down 90k per annum?
> I've often wondered how to define terms such as
> "working class", middle class, upper class, etc. and
> where the income limits/ranges start for each one.
>
> cordially,
>
> Mike Z.
> --- Yoshie Furuhashi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > >Ellen Frank wrote:
> > >
> > >>Personally, I don't see that Clinton's policies
> > contributed to
> > >>economic growth.
> > >
> > >Ok, so what gave us the longest expansion in U.S.
> > history, and a 42%
> > >rise in real GDP?
> > >
> > >Doug
> >
> > Working-class revolts of the 60s & 70s got beat back
> > (both in
> > struggles at the point of production and struggles
> > for more
> > government expenditures on social programs), which
> > restored
> > profitability while keeping inflation low.
> > Meanwhile, more women
> > than ever became incorporated into the labor force,
> > expanding the
> > service sector. Legal & illegal immigrants did the
> > same. The debt
> > crisis in the Third World got "resolved" _as far as
> > the banks in rich
> > nations were concerned_, in that no debt cartel was
> > formed & no
> > collective default took place. The imposition of
> > the SAPs on poor
> > nations scuttled import substitution (= destroyed
> > potential
> > competitors), reducing them to their traditional
> > neo-colonial roles
> > (= dependent suppliers of raw materials) and/or
> > assemblers of
> > foreign-made parts in free trade zones for export.
> > The SAPs cut
> > wages, so they kept down commodity prices, which
> > helped to maintain
> > economic growth without inflation in the USA.
> > Credit must be shared
> > among Clinton, Reagan, & Carter.
> >
> > In Japan & continental Europe, the working class did
> > not get defeated
> > as badly as in the USA (& the UK), which explains
> > the difference
> > between the latter & the former in economic
> > performance.
> >
> > Yoshie
> >
>
>
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