Response to Lecture 3: 'Work and Trade'

Just about all of the influential thinkers covered in this week’s topic recognized the immense potential for production inherent in the increasing division of labor. However, whichever side on the capitalist/communist debate they were on, most of them recognized pitfalls which could happen in systems of free trade and capital accumulation. They’re theories have become realized in today’s world, where articles about horrendously inadequate work conditions in factories are written routinely (Liedtke, 2004).

Emile Durkheim thought that an ‘organic solidarity’ would form between citizens of different statuses and with different vocations, because of their interdependence with each other. I would say that the common observation of most people belonging to a society with an extensive division of labor would hold this claim to be untrue. Most Singaporeans would be hard-pressed to proclaim their sense of kinship or identification with the cashier at the supermarket, the car mechanic, or the plumber. From the common perspective, it is likely that these people are not servicemen, but the vessels through which services are provided. This is likely because those employing the plumber do not feel a sense of vulnerable dependence on them; rather they perceive the plumber as depending on them for employment. For any sort of bonds to form between the two, an active effort to empathize with the other would be required.

I am a Methodist Christian, and the title of Weber’s book, ‘The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism’ (Weber, 1930), interested me. Weber examines the innate values of several Christian denominations, as well as the historical circumstances of the communities in context. It was surprising to me to find that a central argument was the religious sanction of one’s worldly work, a departure from closely followed ascetic values of orthodox Catholicism. If there are any economic-political ideologies that I associate with the Bible, they would be communism and monarchy; the Old Testament chronicled the lives of successive blood-related kings, and the Book of Acts in the New Testament describes a community which sold all its possessions and gave to each other as they had need. I realize that interpreted implicit values have just as much of an impact as explicitly stated ones. It’s also an eye-opener, because the consequences of religion are otherwise often described in a more polarized fashion. For example, religions are made in reference to terrorist acts; in the past wars were religiously sanctioned. On the other hand, religions have promoted widespread acts of charity and altruism. Religions are said to be either segregating or unifying, depending on who you talk to…

Whenever Karl Marx’s ideas are discussed in class, they make a deep and immediate impression on me. Though I would refrain from describing him as either an idealist or a realist, his observations on human nature seem to have a timeless quality to them. I always get the feeling that out of all the great writers discussed in the lectures, he was the one who displayed the greatest concern for the communities in his time. His ideas about the effects of capitalism on workers seem to have more of a human touch to them than those of Adam Smith. I’ll try to get some accessible readings of his some time soon…

Reference List

Michael Liedtke. (May 13, 2004). Gap Acknowledges Labor Violations; Retailer Vows to Crack Down Abroad. ‘The Washington Post’. Retrieved 24 August, 2008, from http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-181263.html

Max Weber. (1930 translation). The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Retrieved on 24 August 2008.

http://www.ne.jp/asahi/moriyuki/abukuma/weber/world/ethic/
pro_eth_frame.html