The socialist would surely not send inspectors to examine work hours
Germany is inching toward liberalizing rules concerning working hours, which has spawned protests of course. It's a sad fact that permitting people to make their own decisions concerning how much or how little to work would be considered liberalization, but there it is.
Here is an amusing quotation from Oscar Wilde's Soul of Man Under Socialism:
I hardly think that any Socialist, nowadays, would seriously propose that an inspector should call every morning at each house to see that each citizen rose up and did manual labour for eight hours. Humanity has got beyond that stage, and reserves such a form of life for the people whom, in a very arbitrary manner, it chooses to call criminals. But I confess that many of the socialistic views that I have come across seem to me to be tainted with ideas of authority, if not of actual compulsion. Of course, authority and compulsion are out of the question. All association must be quite voluntary. It is only in voluntary associations that man is fine.
Comments (3)
Björn Lundahl
We can not compare poor countries with rich countries
China is still a very poor country. Productivity is very low so wages are, therefore, also very low. Productivity and wages goes hand in hand. For an example, go to; http://www.rieti.go.jp/en/china/02083001.html. Once, a long time ago, I was in Hong Kong, and wages there were among the highest in Asia. Real wages increased about 10% per year, for the reason that productivity per hour work increased that much. Unions were very weak and had no influence, but wages increased anyway, because of competition between employers. As productivity increases, cost per employee gets lower and, therefore, the demand for labour increases and wages goes up. Productivity goes up for the reason that increased savings leads to ever higher capital investments per employee. That is the recipe for high wages and all Western countries have gone through that process. Wages and living standards in China are higher than ever, but compared to the western countries, extremely low. In poor countries the average worker wants to work more hours than the average workers wants to do in the Western countries. Why? Isn’t that obvious? If your wage barely can support your family, life will be easier if you can work and earn more. We must remember that. Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore once were very poor countries and today are better off, China also, will in the future, be richer and the living standard higher. Working hours will then be a lot shorter. There is no “short cut” for a higher standard of living and for a shorter working week. Many companies are “forced” by market forces to invest in countries like China. Consumers have a tendency to buy the cheapest goods and if they are not produced in those countries where they are produced for the lowest costs, they can’t compete. It is no point in accusing businesses for being greedy, they are, but so are we consumers. If China, 50 years ago, had chosen the same path which it is now following, living standards in today’s China would probably be about the same as it is in Taiwan. The Communist religion is really, the very cause of long working days and low wages in China.
Björn Lundahl
Göteborg Sweden
Published: October 12, 2006 5:01 PM
Björn Lundahl
I gave the reader in my above comment with the headline “We can not compare poor countries with rich countries”, a link to receive some information about “that productivity and wages goes hand in hand”. I am very sorry, but it did not work. I will try again. Go to;
http://www.rieti.go.jp/en/china/02083001.html
Björn Lundahl
Göteborg, Sweden
Published: October 12, 2006 5:17 PM
Black Bloke
Off-Topic
Oscar Wilde's The Soul of Man Under Socialism is one of the more naïve things I've ever read. Just the beginning is gag-worthy:
Published: October 13, 2006 6:38 PM