VALUE OF LABOR SURVEY RESULTS

1.  Roughly 2/3rds trust the statistics of wealth distribution.


2.  Roughly 1/3rd say they don’t care about Marx’s exploitation message because it seems to deny the future rewards of their entrepreneurial/professional education.

#’s 1 and 2 suggest 1/3rd of you likely very strongly embrace the notion that the U.S. is a land of opportunity, and feel at unease with either statistics that seem pessimistic or a theory/ideology that would dampen your entrepreneurial zeal.

 

Marx also wants you to have rewarding work and certainly isn’t against you being materially comfortable; he just doesn’t want the majority of the population to have unrewarding (unfulfilling or underpaid) work so that a few can have immensely rewarding (super well-paid) work.  Of course, historically, the forced labor of Russian and China (1920-1960) was appalling brutal and coercive.  Seldom in history has there been a greater contradiction between theory (Marx’s wish for labor dignity and non-alienation) and practice (USSR/China death count in the millions from forced labor)… unless perhaps one considers the ideals of the founding of this nation and the fact of slavery (the repercussions of which are still very much with us, despite changes since the Civil Rights era).

 

3. For those who do care about the problematic wealth distribution, all except 2 went for the “put up with it but modest socialism” choice.


4. About 3/5ths thought there should be a high end luxury tax/income tax to help out the poor.

5. A bit more than ½ felt the workers at Bob’s should feel resentful.

6. A bit more that ½ see “surplus value” as being labor being ripped off.


#’s 5 and 6 indicate what one would expect given that Obama was elected (the Democrats currently hold sway, but country overall still divided b/w liberals and conservatives). 

 

7. 3/5ths said parents/grandparents found their work fulfilling because it allowed a reasonably comfortable lifestyle; 1/5th said parents/grandparents work was intrinsically fulfilling; 1/5th said parents/grandparents stoically accepted work as work.


8. 4/5ths of you expect to find a job that has intrinsic satisfaction.

That 4/5ths said that you expect to have a fulfilling career destiny and yet only 1/5th have parents/grandparents that say the same argues that most of you feel upwardly mobile.  I would add that given the fact that 3/5ths of you said your parents/grandparents were reasonably comfortable (and thus you, too), it is no surprise that you are not radicalized by a family history of poverty (I realize I’m making vast generalities here!).

So, in sum, most of you seem fairly optimistic about your futures and thus see no need for the radical solution of revolution that Marx advocates. You see a degree of inequity, perhaps even a lot of inequity, and would amerliorate such somewhat by better health coverage, better wages for those in the worst/menial jobs, etc.  But the “system” does not deserve overturning (i.e. wholesale socialism or communism), and you see nothing fundamentally wrong with capitalism.

 

You’d happily save the lad on the track; but also happily get a tan, driving beach-side, in your Lexus convertible…without much guilt for having “more” than others.  (and, to be honest, although I don’t own a Lexus, I do own a $4000 pool table, $2000 speakers, 2 wide-screen Tvs, and etc: whether I feel guilt or not… hmmm… let’s wait until we talk about Freud!).

We might, thus, be very tempted to throw Marx into the garbage pail. Marx thought that the working class would gradually grow more and more poor and miserable and thus become politically radicalized (with the aid of intellectuals pointing out the monstrosity of the capitalist class).  Marx got that wrong.  The working class’s quality of life in the U.S. and Europe has risen dramatically in the 20th century (although the last 2 decades there may have been a somewhat decline, with the rich getting richer), just as Adam Smith predicted in his 1776 Wealth of Nations.  If, however, we recognize the vast disparity in wealth to be statistically true, should we not continue to pursue #3 above?