Who is a PMC lib, who is working class? It's obviously not office/factory anymore, most people don't work in factories, right? Why was the focus in communist thought on factories and not, servants, drivers, nannies, maids, cooks and secretaries of the rich – they seem to be easy to radicalise because they see the shittiness and incompetence of the rich day to day, and more importantly are most needing of a union because of the likelihood of abuse by their bosses.

Was it because they don't exactly work together? Can't exactly chat and radicalise? Hard to strike? How do we bring gig economy workers together when the same barriers apply to radicalise them?

  • invalidusernamelol [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    His argument seems to be that UBI as he describes it would and should be brought about through the collective action of the precariat as a means to abolish itself. Not even a solution to class conflict or anything, just the only viable method by which to resolve that specific class contradiction and transition into a new phase. He also uses the term "Unconditional" instead of "Universal" which I think makes the concept a lot more sound as a method of eradication the contradiction of the precariat. An unconditional income would create a new class of proletarians that identifies with eachother through the shared experience of living off that basic income. Something that could never be taken away once granted as it would have immediate and profound positive effects on material conditions for nearly every individual who received it.

    • Awoo [she/her]
      ·
      4 years ago

      I can support that.

      I agree with rebranding it "unconditional" to as opposed to "universal". It will be far far harder to co-opt the discussion on the topic and water it down as we have seen for UBI. I have seen 10 versions of UBI ranging from the very good (completely unconditional and covers ALL basic living costs) to the very bad (basically just a new name for welfare, even with means testing in some cases). Watering the phrase down has been a tactic of attacking it.

      What interests me most about this is how it will affect revolutionary organising. One of the main barriers to revolutionary organising I have seen is that radicals must juggle working for a living and doing organising. A UBI would provide the means for a lot of people to become full-time revolutionaries. Same goes for salting groups.