First off, war and governance are completely different. War is about killing the other side and capturing territory. Governance is about obedience, which is much harder. If they came at us with tanks, bombs, etc., many workers would die, and many others would leave, so the wages of the remaining workers would have to go up.
The other thing is, this century will not be like the last. IMO the most important difference will be the mass-migration of networked workers who can keep in touch with friends/family back home in real time from whereever they work. This will give labor organizing a multinational dimension.
Every immigrant worker is an ambassador for labor. Capitalistic climate destruction will cause hundreds of millions of people to leave their home countries. That means multinational labor will confront multinational capital. Imagine strikes that span continents, that cover every stage of production, from agriculture and extraction to light and heavy industry to information work.
The other thing is, this century will not be like the last. IMO the most important difference will be the mass-migration of networked workers who can keep in touch with friends/family back home in real time from whereever they work. This will give labor organizing a multinational dimension.
This is important. Labour organizing needs to become international in any situation where the labour pool is. It’s why liberals love open borders so much.
It is worth remembering that offshoring worked precisely because labour wasn’t international enough. In the UK we used to bring migrants from India etc to work in factories and mills. They struck for better pay and conditions, as well as respect, like everyone else. They benefited from the pro-union laws. Offshoring undermined that.
First off, war and governance are completely different. War is about killing the other side and capturing territory. Governance is about obedience, which is much harder. If they came at us with tanks, bombs, etc., many workers would die, and many others would leave, so the wages of the remaining workers would have to go up.
The other thing is, this century will not be like the last. IMO the most important difference will be the mass-migration of networked workers who can keep in touch with friends/family back home in real time from whereever they work. This will give labor organizing a multinational dimension.
Every immigrant worker is an ambassador for labor. Capitalistic climate destruction will cause hundreds of millions of people to leave their home countries. That means multinational labor will confront multinational capital. Imagine strikes that span continents, that cover every stage of production, from agriculture and extraction to light and heavy industry to information work.
This is important. Labour organizing needs to become international in any situation where the labour pool is. It’s why liberals love open borders so much.
It is worth remembering that offshoring worked precisely because labour wasn’t international enough. In the UK we used to bring migrants from India etc to work in factories and mills. They struck for better pay and conditions, as well as respect, like everyone else. They benefited from the pro-union laws. Offshoring undermined that.
Watch out comrade, you’re getting dangerously close to sounding like Trotsky and we’re not all that welcome around here.