Stupid question no.2

[Viet Minh]

First of all fuck Capitalism.. BUT..

What if, in theory, there was a maximum and minimum wage imposed on all public and private sectors. So for example all manual labourers would receive $8.00 p/h, office work would mean $7.00 etc. It owuld be slightly more complicated than that, with jobs divided into categories. In order to motivate people to take promotions (and added responsibilty), there could be a .10 increase in wage per person you're directly in charge of, up to a limit of 100 (not a limit on the workers, a limit on the increase). Each sector would be moderated, so wages could be slightly adjusted to increase applications to certain unpopular sectors, ie street cleaning or other potentially unwanted jobs. The rest of the money made by the corporations is paid in tax, instead of being paid by individual citizens.

I don't know what the name is for this, and I've not really thought it through so spare me your facepalms

[Agent Ducky]

Um, state capitalism? Kinda weird. Interesting though.

[Viet Minh]

Um, state capitalism? Kinda weird. Interesting though.

I don't see this as anything long term, merely a temporary balancing act in a capitalist society. Its just hard to imagine whether it would even work, and what its effects would be. In an ideal World its maybe a compromise between free enterprise and social equality (financially speaking at least) but its hard to know whether the motivation to work, and especially to create new business would remain without the greed for massive profits. Its also potentially flawed because some people who are physically disabled may feel disenfranchised because they are unable to do physical work for example, and therefore will be unable to receive the same wages as someone who is able-bodied. The wages would be set in terms of popularity mainly, for example street cleaning, which I imagine has fewer applicants than catering for example, would be subject to a higher wage bracket.

[Revolution starts with U]

What if, in theory, there was a maximum and minimum wage imposed on all public and private sectors. So for example all manual labourers would receive $8.00 p/h, office work would mean $7.00 etc. It owuld be slightly more complicated than that, with jobs divided into categories. In order to motivate people to take promotions (and added responsibilty), there could be a .10 increase in wage per person you're directly in charge of, up to a limit of 100 (not a limit on the workers, a limit on the increase). Each sector would be moderated, so wages could be slightly adjusted to increase applications to certain unpopular sectors, ie street cleaning or other potentially unwanted jobs. The rest of the money made by the corporations is paid in tax, instead of being paid by individual citizens.

Sounds like you've replaced the capitalists job of telling labor what it's worth with the state telling them what they're worth.

How about we give letting the workers decide themselves what they're worth, a chance.

[Viet Minh]

Sounds like you've replaced the capitalists job of telling labor what it's worth with the state telling them what they're worth.

How about we give letting the workers decide themselves what they're worth, a chance.

Agreed 100%, I'm just theorizing here, I see a lot of difficulties even with the theory though. Maybe the wages could be worked out as a per capita percentage of national productivity.

[Revolution starts with U]

If you're trying to work within the capitalist paradigm, might I suggest
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worker_cooperative
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workplace_democracy

for example:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondragon_Corporation

It's not perfect, but it's better than state-set wage rates, imo