Sarkozy's Boldness

Sarkozy's Boldness

11/10/2010 06:54 PM ET

Excerpt:

"Leadership: France's President Nicolas Sarkozy signed off on pension
reform Wednesday, winning big and saving his nation's system. But the
obstacles he stared down went beyond anything average politicians will
tolerate.

Ever since he was elected in 2007, the conservative French president
has vowed to "modernize" France's stagnant, noncompetitive, socialist
economy.

So in just three years, Sarkozy extended the work week, changed laws
to permit overtime, scrapped retail price controls, simplified
business formation, tamed unions and yanked benefits from work-
shirkers...."

Article in its entirety:

http://preview.tinyurl.com/4zEvleths314f10

On Thu, 11 Nov 2010 07:15:22 -0800 (PST), "O'Donovan, PJ, Himself"
wrote:

....

Ever since he was elected in 2007, the conservative French president
has vowed to "modernize" France's stagnant, noncompetitive, socialist
economy.

So in just three years, Sarkozy extended the work week, changed laws
to permit overtime, scrapped retail price controls, simplified
business formation, tamed unions and yanked benefits from work-
shirkers...."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He_who_...r_shall_he_eat

Start extract

He who does not work, neither shall he eat is a Biblical aphorism
derived from II Thessalonians 3:10, which became a slogan for new
colonies and socialist societies.

The slogan was used by Captain John Smith in setting up his colony in
Jamestown, Virginia (1607-1609).

According to Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, it is the first principle
of socialism. The phrase is mentioned in his 1917 work, State and
Revolution (chapter 5, section 3). Through this slogan Lenin explains
that in socialist states only productive individuals would be allowed
access to the articles of consumption.

This is not really directed at lazy or unproductive workers [1][2],
but rather the bourgeoisie. Marxist theory holds that the bourgeoisie
buy the commodity labor-power of workers and enlists them in the
process of production. Profits are then made by the expropriation of
surplus value. Accordingly, in a communist society, with the abolition
of property and the law of value, there would be no class of
individuals that lives off the labor of others. [3]

The principle would not apply to those who could not work, such as the
elderly or the lame. These groups would have a right to society's
products because they were not at fault for their condition. The
elderly, furthermore had worked during their youth, and so could not
be denied life’s basic necessities.[4][5]

End extract

Surfer wrote:

Lenin explains that in socialist states only productive individuals
would be allowed access to the articles of consumption.

Consider the degree of personal control that this would require. It
means that government would need to have the articles of consumption
under its control. It would mean that government would decide not just
whether someone was productive, but in what ways they were productive.
What is being described isn't just Soviet Russia, or even Cuba, it's
North Korea.

Bill wrote on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 16:24:48 +0000:

Surfer wrote:

Lenin explains that in socialist states only productive
individuals would be allowed access to the articles of
consumption.

Begin quote

Consider the degree of personal control that this would require. It
means that government would need to have the articles of consumption
under its control. It would mean that government would decide not just
whether someone was productive, but in what ways they were productive.
What is being described isn't just Soviet Russia, or even Cuba, it's
North Korea.
Endquote

I don't know if much thought has been given to whether an elderly
"employed" person is producing anything useful. I can just see lots of
people sitting around at 68 or so, really retired but not informing
their employers of the fact. It's a possible buck pass but it is it
really worthwhile to society as a whole?
--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

"Surfer" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 11 Nov 2010 07:15:22 -0800 (PST), "O'Donovan, PJ, Himself"
wrote:

....

Ever since he was elected in 2007, the conservative French president
has vowed to "modernize" France's stagnant, noncompetitive, socialist
economy.

So in just three years, Sarkozy extended the work week, changed laws
to permit overtime, scrapped retail price controls, simplified
business formation, tamed unions and yanked benefits from work-
shirkers...."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He_who_...r_shall_he_eat

Start extract

He who does not work, neither shall he eat is a Biblical aphorism
derived from II Thessalonians 3:10, which became a slogan for new
colonies and socialist societies.

The slogan was used by Captain John Smith in setting up his colony in
Jamestown, Virginia (1607-1609).

According to Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, it is the first principle
of socialism. The phrase is mentioned in his 1917 work, State and
Revolution (chapter 5, section 3). Through this slogan Lenin explains
that in socialist states only productive individuals would be allowed
access to the articles of consumption.

This is not really directed at lazy or unproductive workers [1][2],
but rather the bourgeoisie. Marxist theory holds that the bourgeoisie
buy the commodity labor-power of workers and enlists them in the
process of production. Profits are then made by the expropriation of
surplus value. Accordingly, in a communist society, with the abolition
of property and the law of value, there would be no class of
individuals that lives off the labor of others. [3]

The principle would not apply to those who could not work, such as the
elderly or the lame. These groups would have a right to society's
products because they were not at fault for their condition. The
elderly, furthermore had worked during their youth, and so could not
be denied life's basic necessities.[4][5]

End extract



# Yes, "work" is drudgery, to be avoided at all costs.
This harks back to the Garden of Eden, from which Adam and Eve were
expelled for eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil - to toil all
the days of their lives..
Original Sin lingers on, even in an Age where computerised equipment has
taken much of the drudgery out of "work".
There have always been the Plutocratic Elite who live by exploiting the
work of others - the Proletariat and Peasants - but who tend to get up to
all kinds of mischief, like engaging in foreign wars, for any reason at all.
Nowadays, in the Corporate world of Big Business, the Boss may work, and
his Creative Brain is throbbing on behalf of us all, irrespective of the
Long Lunch, and endless conferences. Wage Slaves need only do what they are
told.
But still, even if the Wage Slave's work was not a drudgery essential to
retaining a Job, what would any of us do with our lives if not "work" -
become couch potatoes, and watch TV all day long? Soon get tired of that.
It is about time the idea of "work" as something to be shunned, if
possible, was disabused. The average tradesman gets "job satisfaction" from
successful completion, and even the Boss may gain a glow from efficient
"downsizing".
Monotony and drudgery may be unavoidable, in, eg. a factory, but, even
here, rotation of tasks can give relief and interest.
The trouble with the Modern World is that Action Man is everywhere, and
plundering the planet, a consequence. It is not getting people to work, but
slowing down rapacity, which is the main problem.
But, back to Sarkozy and other Conservatives, in France, Britain, USA,
etc., their main concern is slash-and-burn, to preserve the comparative
advantage of the Elite over All Others in society. Most of what they do is
Negative, in the name of Progress (of course). They have no real solutions;
the next step would be Fascism.
Not that the Welfare State, based on Capitalism, is ideal - it does tend
to stagnation. Better, Industrial Democracy, so Wage Slavery is abolished.
This would Emancipate the Proles and Peasants, and it would be Plutocracy
which disappears.
Meanwhile, Clueless Conservatism reigns.

donovan loves fwench sarko

"O'Donovan, PJ, Himself" a écrit dans le message de groupe de discussion :
...

Sarkozy's Boldness

11/10/2010 06:54 PM ET

Excerpt:

"Leadership: France's President Nicolas Sarkozy signed off on pension
reform Wednesday, winning big and saving his nation's system. But the
obstacles he stared down went beyond anything average politicians will
tolerate.

Ever since he was elected in 2007, the conservative French president
has vowed to "modernize" France's stagnant, noncompetitive, socialist
economy.

So in just three years, Sarkozy extended the work week, changed laws
to permit overtime, scrapped retail price controls, simplified
business formation, tamed unions and yanked benefits from work-
shirkers...."

Article in its entirety:

http://preview.tinyurl.com/4zEvleths314f10