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Re Rakesh's [OPE-L:2928-9]:
You assert that the transition from being a waged-worker employed by
capital to being a small businessperson who owns and controls the
means of production (in this case, the truck) and contracts-out with
a capitalist to perform a service in exchange for a fee is a "de
jure" change (or as you put it elsewhere, a change in "status"). It
is this assertion that I take issue with.
If you think it is merely a "de jure" difference, try asking the
self-employed truckers whether they think it is important whether
they own their own trucks!
What this so-called "de jure" difference means is that the entire
relationship (and balance of forces) between the two groups is
changed.
But, this story is not new by any means. Indeed, large corporations
have often mercilously used and twisted the arms of small
independent suppliers. Capitalists have tremendous clout in this
circumstance if they know that the suppliers are unlikely to find
an alternative way of selling their supplies and/or services.
Indeed, this has been a component part of the "just-in-time"
flexible production system that originiated in Japan as the
"kan-ban" system.
In solidarity, Jerry
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