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Rise of the Precariat

  • 27-07-2016 9:19am
    #1
    BarcaDen
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 34 ✭


    Since the 1980s, the average worker has become much more atomised - cut adrift from unions and a sense of worker solidarity. We have seen the rise of what Paul Mason calls 'bull**** jobs' - jobs which should be automated out of existence (by and large we have the technological capability, but because of the artificially low cost of labour its cheaper to employ people) and the people who do them have little security or dignity in their work. A good recent example of this is the Sports Direct workers, but we can also see in the new disruptive forces like Uber, Deliveroo, couriers in general etc.

    Personally I think automation should be encouraged so that these jobs can be consigned to history. Or at the very least, governments take action to increase pay and conditions of labour (with the longer term view that any job that demeans a persons dignity should be eliminated by technology).

    I've argued elsewhere for a UBI as a partial solution to this problem.

    I'm not sure if we are entering an era of structural unemployment and the rise of 'makework', its unclear. Any growth in employment seems to be in low pay, precarious work, at least in the USA and the UK. I think we should be looking at transitioning within the next ten years to a postwork society, where our basic ambitions and functions would be fundamentally social and not economic. Where human activity is directed not by the eternal laws of supply and demand but by a greater social good. Some people call this communism or socialism. I call it realism. The true utopians are those who believe our democratic systems can simultaneously tolerate rising precariousness, unemployment and insecurity. One way or the other, the people will crack, and when it happens it will take the salaried classes by complete surprise.

    Donald Trump, Brexit, the Front National... If you don't think these are signs of whats to come then you're not paying attention.


Comments

  • #2
    BarcaDen
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 34 ✭BarcaDen


    Out of curiosity, I'd like those who dissent with the above thesis to state whether they have indeed worked in a 'precarious' job before, that would be quite illuminating. I honestly think the middle and salaried classes are completely clueless about whats happening out there in traditional working class areas (For some context I'm from a working class background and have a history doing ****ty jobs before moving up the ladder somewhat)


  • #3
    djpbarry
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,104 ✭✭✭✭djpbarry


    BarcaDen wrote: »
    I think we should be looking at transitioning within the next ten years to a postwork society, where our basic ambitions and functions would be fundamentally social and not economic. Where human activity is directed not by the eternal laws of supply and demand but by a greater social good. Some people call this communism or socialism. I call it realism.

    …

    Donald Trump, Brexit, the Front National... If you don't think these are signs of whats to come then you're not paying attention.
    You think the same people who support Donald Trump, Nigel Farage et al are going to direct their activities towards the pursuit of “the greater social good”?
    BarcaDen wrote: »
    Out of curiosity, I'd like those who dissent with the above thesis to state whether they have indeed worked in a 'precarious' job before, that would be quite illuminating.
    Yep. I’ve been working since I was legally able to (or even just before that!) in everything from shops to bus depots.
    BarcaDen wrote: »
    I honestly think the middle and salaried classes are completely clueless about whats happening out there in traditional working class areas (For some context I'm from a working class background and have a history doing ****ty jobs before moving up the ladder somewhat)
    Why do you assume that you’re unique? Why is it so often assumed that the “middle class” have always been middle class and couldn’t possibly have worked hard to get to where they are?


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