[P2P-F] [NetworkedLabour] NEW FROM VERSO: INVENTING THE FUTURE BY NICK SRNICEK AND ALEX WILLIAMS

Mon Nov 2 13:36:31 CET 2015

agreed,

but I think there is one thing that proponents underestimate,

as Polanyi showed, making labour into a commodity was really central for
capitalism, and the basic income would profoundly undo that, in fact making
labour into a commons,

it is worth fighting for, but let's not imagine it will be easy as this is
in fact a very radical proposal, which will overturn a lot of common logics
.. for example, it is likely that intellectual jobs will be paid less,
physical labor more, as no one will want to do them,

Michel

On Mon, Nov 2, 2015 at 7:32 PM, Anna Harris <anna at shsh.co.uk> wrote:

> I agree with you Michel, it is not necessary to the argument for basic
> income. But it enables us to see the *necessity* for the BI rather than
> seeing it as just a utopian dream. The lack of jobs, and the continued
> demand for people to be in work, makes no sense unless you see it in the
> background of developing automation which is replacing labour, and which is
> traditionally resisted by labour. It is this attitude which needs to open
> to seeing automation as serving our interests rather than being the enemy
> which deprives us of work.
>
> Anna
>
> On 2 Nov 2015, at 12:05, Michel Bauwens <michel at p2pfoundation.net> wrote:
>
> this hypothesis weakens the book in my opinion, it is not necessary to
> posit this to be for the basic income ...
>
> Michel
>
> On Mon, Nov 2, 2015 at 6:47 PM, Anna Harris <anna at shsh.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> Good question Ursula, and not one I can answer fully. It is the term the
>> authors use on the book cover.
>> They say:
>> "FULL AUTOMATION
>> With automation.......machines can increasingly produce all necessary
>> goods and services, while also releasing humanity from the effort of
>> producing them. For this reason, we argue that the tendencies towards
>> automation and the replacement of human labour should be enthusiastically
>> accelerated and targeted as a political project of the left. This is a
>> project that takes an existing capitalist tendency and seeks to push it
>> beyond the acceptable parameters of capitalist social relations." (P109)
>>
>> A vision of a post work society where people's time is free to use as
>> they wish is the basis for this demand. If this becomes a project of the
>> left, hopefully there is more possibility to influence and guide this
>> tendency so that it serves all of humanity rather than just the few.
>>
>> Anna
>>
>> On 2 Nov 2015, at 10:00, Ursula Huws <ursulahuws at analyticaresearch.co.uk>
>> wrote:
>>
>> What do you mean by ‘full automation’? Ursula
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* Anna Harris [mailto:anna at shsh.co.uk <anna at shsh.co.uk>]
>> *Sent:* 02 November 2015 09:19
>> *To:* networkedlabour at lists.contrast.org;
>> p2p-foundation at lists.ourproject.org
>> *Cc:* Ursula Huws <ursulahuws at analyticaresearch.co.uk>
>> *Subject:* NEW FROM VERSO: INVENTING THE FUTURE BY NICK SRNICEK AND ALEX
>> WILLIAMS
>>
>>
>>
>> This book offers the framework of building a campaign strategy around the
>> demand for full automation and a basic income for all. This is not a short
>> term demand but a vision of what can be achieved if labour groups come
>> together with academics and supporters to design the future.
>>
>>
>>
>> Personally I believe they have drawn the supporting network too narrowly.
>> But that only makes the case for this campaign even more strongly. I wrote
>> some time ago:
>>
>>
>>
>> BIG (basic income guaranteed) may be revolutionary, but it does not need
>> the economic system to change drastically in order to be introduced. In
>> that sense it is reformist, although the effects are revolutionary.
>> The big advantages are that
>> 1. it can be introduced without massive changes to the economic system.
>> 2. It is a very simple idea which can be appreciated by people without
>> much knowledge of the economy.
>> 3. It has been tried in pilot experiments, and found to be successful in
>> stimulating economic activity. (Brazil)
>> 4. Many economists agree (James Robertson, Jeremy Rifkin, Edward Snowden,
>> Richard Swift) that with technology replacing many jobs that previously
>> required human labour, BIG of some sort is necessary.
>> 5. Naomi Klein highlights it in her latest book This Changes Everything,
>> as one of the game changing battles that 'don't merely aim to change laws,
>> but changes patterns of thought.'(p 641)
>>
>>
>>
>> The authors are coming to Leeds for an open discussion on Nov 14.
>>
>>
>>
>> https://www.facebook.com/events/1624336424483090/
>>
>>
>>
>> I believe that this campaign could appeal widely across all political
>> spectrums, and would welcome more discussion on this list.
>>
>>
>>
>> Anna
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> NetworkedLabour at lists.contrast.org
>> http://lists.contrast.org/mailman/listinfo/networkedlabour
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at:
> http://commonstransition.org
>
> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net
>
> <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates:
> http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens
>
> #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/
>
>

-- 
Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org

P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net

<http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates:
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#82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/
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