the labour theory of value is very outdated even in marxist circles, let alone contemporary economics. that theory of value pertained to manufacturing economies, Fordism essentially. large worker bases and owners of the means of production who do relatively little except have the capital (or credit) for the assets.
the people keeping the world running as well as the shop workers are medical staff, emergency services, etc. not sure i could call ICU nurses and doctors ‘the working class’.
though i am in agreement that the big corporations we continually bail out, after they recklessly fuck up time and time again, and immediately let go of their staff the minute there’s any disruption or uncertainty, are nowhere near as fucking useful as we all make believe. we need the nurses and the shelf stackers and the schoolteachers in loco parentis more than we need these ‘essential’ hedge fund managers and stockbrokers.
we are realising that social value, moral and ethical value, is more important than fucking profit value. well, duh.
ironically one of the main groups classed as ‘unskilled’ labour in the UK govt’s brexit migration system are hospital carers and nurses. the NHS is critically understaffed and underfunded and the brexit ideologues wanted to get rid of 80% of our european staff. lol. ffs
Last edited by uziq (2020-03-21 00:34:03)