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R. S. Refugee
Joined: 29 Sep 2004 Location: Shangra La, ROK
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Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 9:07 pm Post subject: Can worker democracy succeed? |
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A Review of Naomi Klein's "The Take"
Occupy, Resist, Produce!
By SEAN CAIN
With the popularity of such documentaries as Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott's The Corporation and Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911, so-called "guerrilla filmmaking" is quickly becoming a new genre in itself.
The most recent example of this is The Take, a Canadian documentary written by No Logo author Naomi Klein and directed by her husband, former CBC Counterspin host Avi Lewis. The backdrop of the film is the spectacular failure of neo-liberal economics in Argentina. It is the same story that could be told of a multitude of countries from the Global South: under pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Argentina's government, led by President Carlos Menem, privatizes state assets, deregulates financial markets, cuts social spending, raises interest rates to unprecedented levels, and slashes wages. Not surprisingly, the incomes of the wealthy and powerful increase almost exponentially, while unemployment and poverty skyrocket for the poor and working class, leaving the society ridden with greater inequality and public squalor. This leads to a financial collapse in 2001, when even hundreds of thousands of well-to-do, middle-class Argentines lose their jobs and savings. . . .
http://www.counterpunch.org/cain05252005.html |
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some waygug-in
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
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Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 1:16 am Post subject: |
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I liked this part the best:
As decades of labour research has shown, industries that are self-managed and controlled democratically by their workers are, under static conditions, more efficient and cost-effective than companies that possess a traditional, top-down, bureaucratic form of administration. More importantly, they also create far better working conditions for employees. Further studies have revealed that those working in democratic workplaces tend to live longer and healthier, enjoy more satisfying personal and family life, and are more likely to engage in social activities such as volunteering, community service and political participation.
Of course, we're not supposed to know this. People are trained to believe that workers are uninformed, careless, and lack the capability to manage their own businesses. The irony about this myth is illustrated in the film, where the former owners who only a few years ago abandoned their businesses, including Mr. Zanon of the ceramics factory, all of a sudden want them back now that many of them are operating so successfully.
I guess this just makes to much sense for some people. |
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