Capitalism & jobs — the fundamentals

The following article appeared in a recent issue of
the People's Weekly World, the newspaper of the
Communist Party USA. It was written by Pat Barile, a
member of the National Board of the Party and deals with
aspects of the question of jobs under capitalism.
Its message is as valid for Australian workers 
as it for their US counterparts.

The US working class is facing a new, powerful, ominous and 
ongoing crisis. Despite a profit recovery, it is suffering 
growing chronic unemployment.

Alan Greenspan [head of the Federal Reserve], explaining why 
interest rates should not be raised at this time, put it like 
this: "The rate of layoffs is slowing — but job growth is 
lagging."

The first half of Greenspan's statement, "the rate of layoffs is 
slowing", deals with the boom-bust capitalist cycle. The second 
half of Greenspan's statement, "job growth is lagging", deals 
with the maturation of a key part of the commodity production 
process, the sophistication and ever-spreading use of technology, 
increasingly replacing workers.

There are those who blame this job-loss "recovery" only on the 
export of jobs by greedy US corporations. Their anger at the 
flagrant nose-thumbing abuse of trade agreements is wholly 
understandable. A struggle to set a sane, equitable trade policy 
with other countries is needed.

Both runaway jobs and jobs lost through productivity growth are 
vitally important. Both have a jackhammer impact on the well-
being of the US working class. But there is a downside to 
focusing solely on runaway jobs.

It often leads to pitting workers against each other and fosters 
isolationist thinking that promotes dead-end and backward steps, 
as in the case of making Chinese workers the "enemy". This takes 
the focus off both the job export crisis and the job-killing use 
of more and more technology.

That's where the main battles of the working class have to be 
aimed, ideologically and practically.

Job killers

Why pay low wages here or abroad if you can get away with paying 
no wages? The number of jobs that have been sent abroad is 
relatively small compared to the number of jobs lost permanently 
through the application of new technology. Technology impacts on 
every phase of the economy, from heavy industry to the service 
sector. All are computerised, automated and in many cases 
dehumanised.

Technology continually improves. Billions are spent on research, 
both government and private. Today's technology makes new, 
qualitative breakthroughs. Each application of advanced 
technology at the point of production brings with it new layoffs.

Should this job elimination be accepted passively? Shouldn't it 
arouse the same passion and anger as exporting jobs? Shouldn't 
technology benefit the people, not profit-hungry corporations?

Technology — that's the real crisis facing the US working class. 
That's why more and more millions join the ranks of the long-term 
and permanently unemployed. Every week, on average, there are 
350,000 first-time applicants for unemployment insurance 
benefits. That's the crux of the crisis. Look behind the headline 
statistics.

The unemployment rate isn't 5.7 per cent. There are millions more 
not included in the official tally, part of the surplus labour 
force no longer needed or wanted by capitalism. We know 308,000 
"new" jobs are just election Bushmaths. When is that going to 
stop, Mr President!

Government reports for over 20 years show that US workers are the 
most productive in the world. Among the happiest thoughts running 
through the minds of Wall Streeters in this decade is the 
continuing rise in US workers' productivity, with no new hiring 
involved.

Greenspan's pronouncements are reports on the fundamental nature 
of capitalism and the current status of its health. He proposes 
remedies to keep it functioning so that it can produce maximum 
profits for the capitalists. He has no other function. Pure and 
simple, Greenspan is dealing with the capitalist system, how to 
preserve it, extend its life, expand its domestic and world 
control and keep the profits rolling in. It's "profits before 
people".

He is trying to apply as many economic tools as he can to keep 
capitalism afloat. Juggling interest rates is one of those tools. 
Key to his agenda for helping his capitalist master is 
maintaining a murderously high level of unemployment.

Every working class leader, trade union economist, Marxist, 
Communist, socialist, and others who understand the gravity of 
this job-killing process, has a big task: to explain to millions 
of workers how and why they are being ripped off and laid off, 
and to help them organise. When workers see how they are being 
ripped off, who is doing it and that they can do something about 
it, they will get rightfully angry and demand jobs and control 
over the wealth they create.

* * *

Pat Barile can be reached at pbarile@cpusa.org