We have heard so much nonsense about the "Service
Economy" lately that it starts to look like a viable
alternative to actually making a "product" and
selling it in the market. Nothing could be more wrong.
Capitalism is not based on "Service." Rather, its
roots are in manufacturing and industry. Capitalism is the
bastard child of the Industrial Revolution, but its high
priest Adam Smith would scarcely recognize it now after being
twisted and mutilated by the new Robber Barons. It wasn't
supposed to be this way.
Now the "Marketplace" in this country can be defined
in commodities trading or in the stock market, neither of
which "makes" anything; they only trade in paper.
How many times have you heard about how well the country is
doing in terms of Standard and Poor's or the Dow Jones? Not to
prick anyone's bubble, but this has to do only with who owns
the shares of the companies, not capital invested to make
profit. The only money made in the "market" is on
paper. Stocks make nothing but return on money spent for the
stock: it's sort of like a bank with a rigged roulette wheel
determining the interest rate.
So what does all this have to do with the Serf Economy (a.k.a.
the Service Economy)? What do you need to create and support
the Serf Economy in a society? It works like this:
Poverty
Can't have serfs without poverty.
Granted, we are not the poorest nation in the world, but
poverty in the Serf Economy is relative. Imperial Russia had a
narrower Wealth/Poverty gap than us. Serfs MUST be poor. Who
else would put up with a dreadful dead end (and sometimes
needlessly hazardous) job that pays almost nothing and goes
nowhere?
You can't have burgers without burger flippers, and unless you
keep them there, then you have to keep the workforce supplied
with burger flippers and toilet cleaners through replacement
from below (younger workers) and either one of those takes the
next thing; respect for the position: we would rather choke
first, and we likely will.
Propaganda
Serfs must believe that their lot is not all that bad, or else
you start to breed revolt.
Knowledge is the yeast in the bread of revolution, so if you
keep the serfs believing somewhat plausible propaganda, then
you keep them flipping burgers or cleaning toilets. This is
much harder than it sounds: the current crop of Propagandists
is doing a very lousy job. The serfs are starting to learn the
awful truths that not only are they not getting a fair share
of the pie, but they have to gather the ingredients and bake
it for a very select few.
This is not a hard secret to hide, but the Propagandists are
getting lazy. Take for example the Bush administration's poor
job of explaining tax cuts, profligate waste, excessive
spending etcetera. They rely on a variation of the old
"America; love it or leave it" meme, using updates
like "The Democrats want to steal your guns, turn you
children queer, put the country on welfare" and the like.
It has worked pretty well up until now, but it's reaching the
limit of believability in everywhere but the isolated
heartland, and even those folks are starting to wake up.
Sabotage
In order NOT to be a serf, you need a GOOD job, so
intentionally or passively the Serf Owning Class has destroyed
the good jobs.
The Auto Industry, the PARAGON of pumping capital into
consumerism is terminally ill. The NEW industries of
Information Technology and Support are being sent to places
where they have serfs to sell, like the Third World. There are
many other examples, so now the money for the soon to be new
Serf Class is evaporating like piss on the sidewalk. The logic
is, there won’t be any other jobs to do than serving the new
Serf Owning Class, and it's working fairly well.
Security
Here's where the new masters shine: TERROR, TERROR, TERROR,
and TERROR.
One would have thought that this would have been shown as the
lie that it is, but it actually has worked astonishingly well.
The new Serf Owning Class has made the fear of losing the
"job" so horrible that the drug industry’s best
sellers for years have been the anti-depressants. Now they’ve
made it even more horrifying with the health care debacle.
Then the "Patriot" act and its ilk have just about
closed down any viable challenges in the security venue on a
government level. It once was said that every government has a
secret police; the only questions were how large and how
effective, and this is where the problem lies. They can’t get
too blatant because there are enough neo-kulaks to make
trouble (note: this is already happening).
Now comes the BAD news:
Not enough Serfs to go around
There will be a shortage of good serfs, and PROFESSIONAL serfs
are EXPENSIVE.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003659959_servant10.html
The English have always known this: "Good help is so hard
to find," is straight out of the British Empire Upper
Class Lexicon. The difference is, they have always RESPECTED
the "help." WE on the other hand, having grown up as
a nation with slavery, have always treated service as a RIGHT,
not as commodity to be paid for. As an example, the rich are
always the worst tippers.
In addition, the English have always known that you get what
you pay for. Their service staff DOES NOT DICKER OR BARGAIN,
and a deal is a deal. Our wealthy on the other hand not only
LOVE to dicker, but if they can stiff the help, all the
better. That's one of the reasons why illegal aliens have
always been such an enormous part of our Serf Economy: nothing
better than a servant who can't go to a regulatory agency to
get their rights because they are here illegally.
Then on the other side of the fence, we have made a litany out
of not rendering good service. This may get back to the Serf
Owners not paying for what they get, but it has become so
legion that its origins may be moot at this point. NOBODY
wants a McJob.
The Information Glut
Serfs have to be kept in the dark.
When dialup is free, a computer to get on the net is the next
thing to free, and cell phones can get any information you
want, it’s hard to keep a determined serf stupid. Now until
recently one just could say "Fox News" and the
misinformation fed the serfs was taken care of, but now even
the worst informed are starting to laugh at the "Fox
News" jokes. Plus you don’t have be able to read
"Das Kapital" to get "subversive" ideas
like universal Health Care, you COMMIE.
Delusion is not as rampant as it was; the level of apathy is
hiding it, but apathy does not last forever. It breeds
discontent.
The 21st Low Level Century Bastille Decade
What we have forgotten about is that to keep DISCONTENTED
serfs in line is a full-time job for your army, and the serfs
have to have nothing more than farm implements to fight with.
Even then you’re going to lose sometimes; one doesn't have to
hear a mob singing "The Marseilles" to figure that
out.
But we have done the dumbest thing that people who want a Serf
Economy could have done; we have armed them, almost as well as
a modern infantryman, and we have made it part of the Serf
Owning Class’s mantra that the Serfs have the RIGHT to those
arms.
What did those people think? That we were going to bring the
2nd Armored Division to Los Angeles to get those lawns mowed
and mansions cleaned? Never happen.
Will this breed outright revolution? Maybe yes, maybe no: not
all empires die with a bang/some do with a whimper, but die
they do.
What's going to happen next? Who knows? Not me. People know
that my views are a little on the bleak side, but that’s not
necessarily how it will play out.
And the biggie:
What can we do? Answer that one for yourself.
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