Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2004 18:19:49 +1100
From: nik <fragments-AT-va.com.au>
Subject: Re: AUT: Workers' Credit


>I am particularly interested in how this stuff relates to the ideology of
>Financial Independence. You know, the idea that the truly smart individual
>is the one who has become his own boss, and has left the circuit of wages
>into the circuit of capital. Such an individual is a true Producer, not at
>all a parasite; the true parasites are those people hanging onto the teats
>of the state, and only marginally up from them are workers who 'whinge' for
>higher wages, rather than 'doing something about it'. This kind of stuff is
>wildly popular in Australia as I am sure it is elsewhere. The fastest
>growing church in Australia, I think I mentioned before, is really the very
>slick worship of this pious ferrari-driving M-M' machine. The whole ideology
>is about Security; which is fitting enough for a precarious workforce. (And
>just as financialization is mostly a dream/nightmare, so precarious workers
>are a tiny minority who serves as warning/model.)


i don't know of any specific works on the shift, but i did want to 
add that i think its as much about 'autonomy' as security. That is, 
the much valued financial independence (not only with regards as 
income but as rent: i.e., the whole 'why pay someone else's mortgage 
off?' deal) is an expression of a desire to be free of the work-place 
in some sense. obviously not entirely (or principally), but still 
definitely an expression of a desire to not be managed or bossed 
around. One of the things that comes up a lot in the australian 
financial press is the rise in workers struggles for more control 
over their work-time and tasks (as opposed to straight-out wage 
claims), and coded articles about the need for ever-more 
'flexibility', which is about reducing workers autonomy in the work 
place by making them more responsive to time/task demands... or 
rather, continuing the reduction.

I'm not saying its a positive desire (or not), just that I think that 
quite often its not the precarious workers that push for financial 
independence so much as older workers (who statistically comprise 
most of the small business owners and starters in australia).

I'm not sure what this means regarding credit though. The highest 
debts are in the highest income households, which might be more of a 
reflection of the redistribution of wealth over the last decade and 
the surge in house-valuations. The effect is a lot of defaults 
amongst young and poorer people though, as they strive to purchase 
all the goodies that shine so bright.

nik
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