It seems that I might actually try to keep having a daily quote. The quality and relevence may vary vastly, but atleast there will be something posted that people can think about, I'm thinking about trying to include a little bit of an explanation of each quote, and why its important/cool..
So here goes this one, its a quote of the 19th century economist Charles Babbage, which is lifted from Harry Braverman's book: Labour and Monopoly Capital. In the particular chapter about Mr.Babbage, Braverman outlines what is known as Babbage's great principle of economical production. This principle has gone largely unnoticed by most modern economists because it pertains directly to the production process - a foggy ground which most 'legitimate' economist are wholy unconcerned with. Why this is, I dont know, but it seems to me production plays atleast as large a role as exchange in any economy.
Anyways, Babbage's great principle states that the division of labour plays such an important part in capitalist economies because it allows the owner to split up the work into different pieces each requiring less skill than would be required if one person were responsible for the whole manufacturing process. By this one can pay each worker less - because less skill is required - than would be required for a worker who is an expert in the whole production process. The ramifications of this are great, as it implies that work no longer requires a mastery of some field, but instead, a simplistic knowledge of a simplified work process. Work becomes a process where it is in the owners best interest to have less and less skilled worker doing less and less skilled work. aaaand, here is the quote:
That the master manufacturer, by dividing the work to be executed into different processes, each requiring different degrees of skill or of force, can purchase exactly that precise quantity of both which is necessary for each process; whereas, if the whole work were executed by one workman, that person must possess sufficient skill to perform the most difficult, and sufficient strength to execute the most laborious, of the operations into which the art is divided.
This principle leads the way for women and children to be labourers. Its a bonus for the capitalist because women and children are much more docile and will accept lower wages than their male counterparts...
on that note: Happy Friday!
Dan
Professor Serieux talked a bit about this idea in regards to how labour was split up in the colonies. He explained how labour continues to be quite inefficiently organized in countries such as Kenya, because historically the goal was to have each indigenous labourer carrying out only a very small, specified part of any production process; that way there'd be less chance of any power being held by labour (colonized peoples). Today, according to him, this means a huge number of steps and bureaucracy to accomplish anything.
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