Ep 130: Line Goes Mad w/ Jason Smith
Added 2021-02-03 11:00:00 +0000 UTCPolitical economist Jason Smith, (@profitratedown) author of 'Smart Machines and Service Work: Automation in and Age of Stagnation', joins Sean to give us all an update on how that dang line is doing.
What is the source of all of America's various morbid symptoms the last 12 to 40 years? How can it be that a handful of tech companies (the FAANGS) can seem to be so profitable when the 'real economy' is so depressed? What does all this mean for a return to social democratic, non-revolutionary politics in the capitalist core? And if you've ever wondered just why all the jobs, including perhaps your own, as so shitty these days, we ask: what is service work, really, and how does it fit into the schema of capitalist production. Finally, what is the future of work?
Bonus episode on the end of Trump and the GameStop debacle out on Friday!
Jason's book: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/S/bo70564105.html
Closing song: Daisy Chainsaw - Love your money
Comments
great ep
Otto Poiesis
2021-03-03 22:05:19 +0000 UTCExcellent episode. Thank you.
Elwyn
2021-02-10 15:44:57 +0000 UTCi haven’t read jason’s book, but it seemed to overlap a lot with Brenanav’s based on the description. just curious to what extent their work on this topic overlap or contradict each other. in any case, i think using the bourgeoisie’s own terms and criteria to show how there is a structural barrier to achieving a return to the postwar labor-capital relationship is very good and useful. thanks for the ep!
corey kniss
2021-02-09 03:21:30 +0000 UTCyeah i think we were talking about how bourgeois revolutions don't always have a bourgeoisie, but they always have lots of lawyers! it's matt's point and it's a good one.. if i had to guess i'd say it was either the one on no US labor party or the one on france.
The Antifada
2021-02-05 20:09:53 +0000 UTCthrow that out in the discord, it's a great idea!
The Antifada
2021-02-05 20:08:05 +0000 UTCI think it would be rad to have a antifada pol econ reading group or something discuss somewhere
dillards dept.
2021-02-05 05:11:08 +0000 UTCKeep the nerd shit coming please love the econ eps .
dillards dept.
2021-02-05 05:09:46 +0000 UTCReally delicious stuff right here. I wanna get that book .
dillards dept.
2021-02-05 05:07:59 +0000 UTCThe political economy episodes are top shelf, please make as many as your hearts desire
pablo escobar’s hippos
2021-02-05 00:30:32 +0000 UTCReal good shit.
Adam Murphy
2021-02-04 04:07:27 +0000 UTCi think matt and sean talked about lawyers’ role in the emergence of capitalism in one of the HIAWs? (maybe it’s another episode or something i imagined). either way i think your observation is interesting to place next to the role of the lawyer in capitalism’s emergence. perhaps the massive expansion of legal apparatuses in the us signals our movement into a new regime of capital. (or maybe it just signals financialization visa vis arrighi).
Samuel Kessler
2021-02-03 21:15:04 +0000 UTCAmazing episode. On the productive/unproductive topic, whenever bankers were mentioned I kept thinking about lawyers, and how they kinda represent a privatization of justice. Not sure if western society ever decided that this is what we want, or if this is even visible. But growing up in East Germany, and having social democracy introduced at age 15, I remember lawyer as just-another-public-servant job, one that would rather get you into trouble with the state than into the upper echelons of society. Now living in America, and the sheer scale of a secondary (and tertiary) industry around the legal system is stunning.
Christian Bloch
2021-02-03 18:28:18 +0000 UTCOh cheers! I’ll check them out
Sebastian Wittekindt
2021-02-03 18:09:01 +0000 UTCthanks! it's always unclear how many people like the political economy eps, but good to know we have at least one <3
The Antifada
2021-02-03 18:08:28 +0000 UTCgood question. i gave the thesis i developed (through robert brenner's political economy and labor history) in episode 17, then matt and i discussed it more thoroughly in HIAW#4. both are still available - sean
The Antifada
2021-02-03 18:07:31 +0000 UTCI’m curious, why did the neoliberal turn / deindustrialization take place? Did the capitalist class just realize that they could make more short term profits by moving production to less militant labor markets or is there more to it than that?
Sebastian Wittekindt
2021-02-03 17:41:16 +0000 UTCFantastic episode. More like this pls!
Sebastian Wittekindt
2021-02-03 17:38:45 +0000 UTC
