Date: Sat, 19 Oct 1996 16:31:18 +0200 (MET DST)
From: rolf.martens-AT-mailbox.swipnet.se (Rolf Martens)
Subject: Re: How much work is necessary?


Hugh Rodwell wrote:


>Here's an interesting question that cropped up on Marxism-Intro, and my
>attempt at answering it.

>>I have a question which probably makes no sense, and I have no idea how to
>>formulate it properly.  It goes something like this: if we took, say, a
>>medium-sized
>>country with some resonable natural resources and postulated a certain modest
>>standard of living for everyone -- decent housing, decent food, clothes to fit
>>the climate, reasonable health care -- all this throughout every person's
>>life --
>>if we did all this, then how much work would actually need to be done by each
>>person (who's capable of working)?  Two hours a day?  More?  Less?
>>
>>If this question cannot be made enough sense of to generate interesting
>>discussion,
>>just disregard it.
>
>Trying to answer this gives a good idea of all the intertwined threads
>linking world production.
>
>Take Sweden in the late seventies and early eighties, where Sardine's
>postulates more or less fit. At that time, given the capitalist system and
>a Social-Democratic welfare regime, the work done by the work force was
>necessary. There was no alternative.

(The rest I've snipped)

Hugh's long answer, concerning Sweden, the country where we both 
live, completely neglects two vital factors:

1) Sweden to a certain and by no means inconsiderable degree
lived and lives on exploitation of third-world countries and
East European countries, held down by US imperialism and Russian
new tsarism

2) One other important reason for Sweden's comparative wealth
was (and in part still is) the development of high-technilogical
production. This country for instance still has the most nuclear
elercticity energy per capita of all countries. *BUT* today,
and since 2 decades back, the main forces of the international
bourgeoisie, led by US imperialism (and supported in part by
Russian new tsarism too) has been ATTACKING INDSTRIES IN MANY
COUNTRIES WITH SLEDGEHAMMERS, for certain counter-revolutionary
political reasons, so that the industrial base here in Sweden,
for instance, has decreased considerably. A "green warfare".
The results: Sharply decreasing standards for ordinary people,
enormous unemployment.

The phoney"Marxists" of Hugh's type precisely have *applauded*
these attacks and have wanted them to go even further.

As for the question itself of how many work hours would really
be needed per day in a socialist country, that depends of course
on how modern production has become. I would guess that six
hour per day would be sufficient in a non-exploiting theortical
Sweden of today - but this is a very loose guess, and the
question of course is very hypotethical too.

One hour a day would have to be spent on combating
phoney"Marxism", I think! That's a minimum requirement.
Including study of real Marxism. This thing is important
for production too, as was advocated and shown in revolutionary
China (1949-76/78).

Rolf M.