- Capitalism and Alternatives -

Venality...

Posted by: Red Deathy ( Socialist Party, UK ) on July 19, 1999 at 14:17:25:

In Reply to: John Sweeney's Proposal posted by Nikhil Jaikumar on July 16, 1999 at 03:18:35:

: Have any of you heard of John Sweeney's income-cap proposal? John sweeney, for the non-Americans out there, is the head of the AFL-CIO.

Think I have heard of this...

: He wants to make it so that ion any company, the top-paid member (including the boss) cannot make more than 50 times the income of teh lowest paid worker.

Of course, they'll find ways out of it- either through back-door payments (share-options), or if needs be through a capital strike, or a trheatened brain drain...

:But the way i figure it, maybe in a few years after saying 5p0 times is too much, they'll start saying 30 times is too mych, then 10 times- eventually we can become gradually more nad more equal.

The usual forlorn hope of reformists, we've had wage caps here, and they do no good, and there is no real reason *why* teh workers should demand more, why might they not be happy with such a ratio, stopping outrageous disproptions, as long as they accept the wages system, they might. This is the obverse of slippery slope arguments, you have to show the reason for pushing for more restraint- and IMNSHO its more likely (and better) that they push for more for themselves, rather than worrying about how much the boss is getting- wanting to cap the boss, really, is a sign of the sad state of a unionism that can do it by putting money in workers pockets.



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