Kevin
Very well said in many ways. There are too many people in unfullfilling jobs. I'm kind in one myself, but it's not hard to see that I'm lucky not too be in a worse place.
History has 80% or more of us in crappy jobs. It's what we did to provide for ourselves and families. Post-War 2 was an aberration in history where many people could uplift themselves beyond a state of poverty. Nice progress, but it seems we are going back to historical trends.
As I said in my original article, I think I'm a Marxist. In that, I mean unfettered capitilism is a recipe for a broken society. We advanced after the Industrial Revolution because of progressive social engineering, not because of more capitalism.
I worked two years in a corporate grocery store. I would say that the wage hiearchy, in the store, was flatter than other places I had worked. The store manager asked me one day if I would be interested in a lower management position. I told him that the increase in wage was not worth the extra headache. In this sense, everyone involved made a free market decision. The store decided the manager's wage, and I decided not to take it. No one was forced. I remained a line worker.
But in no way, should government set wages. Having said that, I'm a believer in a UBI. Workers come to work to get some disposible income, not survival income. If we had a UBI, this would relieve worker's cooperatives of the social contract of providing a living wage for its employees.
If a worker's co-operative wants to have a flat wage structure, that is its right to do so. But I think such a co-operative won't be operating for long. I have several reasons for this line of thinking, but perhaps the biggest is that many of today's workers are not ready for the responsibility and consequences of big decisions they will be making together.
Hopefully the few pioneering co-operatives are learning the new ways and teaching them to others. But from what I have gleaned, these firms are sugar-coating what actually goes behind its wals. I don't believe these firms are a "paradise".
