From: Gerald A. Levy (Gerald_A_Levy@MSN.COM)
Date: Thu Oct 21 2004 - 10:02:04 EDT
Re: [OPE-L] (OPE-L) Re: CP India-Marxist Pushes Hi-Tec>>> You miss the rather obvious groups like
- senior civil servants
- managers of big firms <<<
Paul C,
Thanks. I guess that leads us in the direction
of a discussion of the "middle classes" and the
ownership *and* control of the means of
production.
Putting aside the rather obvious point that many
(most?) members of these 2 groups receive income
from other sources, e.g. stock ownership (and hence
have a claim to ownership and control of means
of production) , *what determines the salary that
they receive*?
Unlike skilled workers, I don't think the salary disparity
between unskilled wage-workers and these senior
servants and senior managers can be simply
"reduced" to the time required, via educational
institutions or apprenticeship, for learning how to
perform these activities. Nor, of course, can it be
explained by unionization since these 2 groups
typically don't belong to unions. Nor, I don't think,
can it be explained by class struggle with their
employers. Indeed, at some levels of government
and management these individuals have the ability to
authorize higher salaries for themselves and don't
have to bargain with anyone outside of the group
(e.g. members of the House of Representatives can
vote to give themselves a higher salary; members of
Boards of Directors of large corporations can
basically do the same.) What kind of bargaining power
do they have? So, it can be explained on the
basis of ...?
In solidarity, Jerry
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