[p2p-research] Santa Fe Institute economist: one in four Americans is employed to guard the...

Sat Feb 6 16:15:57 CET 2010

Wow, that is a freakin' awesome article. Thanks, Kevin.

The pathway that is obscured to these people is one of self-employment. Job
creation statistics don't even include self employed people. My own business
payed out the equivalent of 6 full time employment salaries last year, 10
over the last 2 years. All to people who pay taxes. That is roughly 30% of
what the entire state of New Mexico did in Santa Fe in one year according to
the article!

The situation here in the US is actually becoming laughable. As you can see
by this article forwarded by Kevin, there is a massive opportunity for
anyone to step in and do better than what is currently happening. At this
point, I think you could ask people to send you ideas, print them out and
hang them on the wall, blindfold yourself and throw darts at them, and have
a better chance of coming up with something that works than what is
currently happening in most large corporations, US federal state and local
government, etc.

On Sat, Feb 6, 2010 at 2:57 AM, Kevin Carson <
free.market.anticapitalist at gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
> Sent to you by Kevin Carson via Google Reader:
>
>
> Santa Fe Institute economist: one in four Americans is employed to guard
> the wealth of the rich<http://feeds.boingboing.net/%7Er/boingboing/iBag/%7E3/UTD9Jx3Y874/santa-fe-institute-e.html>
> via Boing Boing <http://www.boingboing.net/> by Cory Doctorow on 2/5/10
>
> Here's a fascinating profile on radical Santa Fe Institute economist Samuel
> Bowles, an empiricist who says his research doesn't support the Chicago
> School efficient marketplace hypothesis. Instead, Bowles argues that the
> wealth inequality created by strict market economics creates inefficiencies
> because society has to devote so much effort to stopping the poor from
> expropriating the rich. He calls this "guard labor" and says that one in
> four Americans is employed to in the sector -- labor that could otherwise be
> used to increase the nation's wealth and progress.
>
>
> The greater the inequalities in a society, the more guard labor it
> requires, Bowles finds. This holds true among US states, with relatively
> unequal states like New Mexico employing a greater share of guard labor than
> relatively egalitarian states like Wisconsin.
>
> The problem, Bowles argues, is that too much guard labor sustains
> "illegitimate inequalities," creating a drag on the economy. All of the
> people in guard labor jobs could be doing something more productive with
> their time--perhaps starting their own businesses or helping to reduce the
> US trade deficit with China.
>
> Guard labor supports what one might call the beat-down economy. Community
> Action's Porter sees it all the time.
>
> "We have based almost everything we have done on the idea that we always
> need a part of our workforce that is marginalized--that we can call this
> group into action at any time, pay them nothing and they will do anything
> that needs to be done," she says.
>
> More discouraging, perhaps, is the statistical fact that a person born into
> this workforce has little chance of rising beyond it.
>
> Born Poor? <http://sfreporter.com/stories/born_poor/5339/all/> (*via MeFi<http://metafilter.com>
> *)
> *Previously:*
>
>    - China's labor unrest worse than suspected - Boing Boing<http://www.boingboing.net/2009/02/02/chinas-labor-unrest.html#previouspost>
>    - Which Side Are You On? Explaining what happened to labor in ...<http://www.boingboing.net/2009/03/13/which-side-are-you-o.html#previouspost>
>    - Questions from economics honors exam at Oberlin College Boing Boing<http://www.boingboing.net/2009/12/07/questions-from-econo.html#previouspost>
>    - EVE Online's economist speaks -- economics as an experimental ...<http://www.boingboing.net/2008/10/02/eve-onlines-economis.html#previouspost>
>    - Max Keiser's curmudgeonly TV economics show: the Oracle - Boing Boing<http://www.boingboing.net/2009/01/09/max-keisers-curmudge.html#previouspost>
>    - Mackerel economics in prison - Boing Boing<http://www.boingboing.net/2008/10/03/mackerel-economics-i.html#previouspost>
>    - Economics of Malware - Boing Boing<http://www.boingboing.net/2007/09/07/economics-of-malware.html#previouspost>
>    - MP3s from "Economics of Open Content" conference - Boing Boing<http://www.boingboing.net/2006/03/31/mp3s-from-economics-.html#previouspost>
>    - Boing Boing: Psychology, design and economics of slot-machines<http://www.boingboing.net/2007/07/20/psychology_design_an.html#previouspost>
>
>
>
>  <http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=2bbbfb2f471bdfa1382c7f0a2b2770fc&p=1>
>
>
>
> Things you can do from here:
>
>    - Subscribe to Boing Boing<http://www.google.com/reader/view/feed%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.boingboing.net%2Fboingboing%2FiBag?source=email>using
>    *Google Reader*
>    - Get started using Google Reader<http://www.google.com/reader/?source=email>to easily keep up with
>    *all your favorite sites*
>
>
>
>
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