What does political-economy mean? 

It means that the wealth we create as workers is owned and controlled by our masters.  The control is political.  We create the economy.  We create capital.  The owners decide what to do with what we've created, once they've paid us wages for what we have agreed to sell our skills for and what they've agreed to buy them for.  

What is useful for the capitalists is to make money.  Money is the measure of all things for them.  Count it.  It is a quantitative measure of what they have had us produce.  Remember, they control what is produced by us.  

Say it loud and say it proud.  What do we need?  A four hour day with no cut in pay. 

If real prices are going up, up, up, up, up, then real wages should at least match the prices of other commodities.  Meanwhile, we're stuck, seemingly powerless, caught in mind-traps which say, "Work harder for the bosses, get recognition and leave the others behind."  Yet, as the dust settles, we find ourselves working harder, longer hours for the same real pay (adjusted for inflation) and our standard living tanking.

No wonder the most 'type A" amongst the non-class conscious workers are feeling rage.  

Suggestion: why not put that rage into taking out a Red Card.  Show that to the bosses and get your fellow workers organised.  That'll show the bastards.

Y

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Desk rage spoils workplace for many Americans

By Ellen Wulfhorst

Thu Jul 10, 7:13 AM ETNEW YORK (Reuters) - Get out of the way, road rage. Here comes desk  rage.

A lot of interesting articles, films and links for the class struggle over

shorter work time here.

http://shorterworkweek.blogspot.com/

Work and Wages

It is not an uncommon sight to see members of the working class standing perplexed and baffled when asked that pertinent question “Is a rise in wages beneficial to the working class?”

Many maintain that it is a grave waste of time to fight for a rise in wages, because every time it is followed by an advance in prices, the workers being no better off and the employing class not affected in the least. This ignorant wail comes only from those not conversant with the present industrial system. To the student of Political Economy this question is easily answered: Yes; undoubtedly and undeniably yes! A rise in wages is always beneficial to the workers, and it behoves them to continually fight for more wages until the wages system be overthrown.

The dogma that a rise in wages is o good to the working class has been foisted upon suffering humanity by lying politicians and traitorous leaders with but one object in view: To keep the toiling masses from arising and seriously affecting the profits of the master-class. The workers find themselves, every now and then, forced to demand higher wages in an effort to keep pace with the ever-souring prices of commodities, It is useless to blame the Labor Party, the Liberal Party, or the Socialist Party for the existence of these prices.

No statesman or ruler in the universe can deny the working of this self-evident economic law. In the lands of trusts, in the lands of no trusts; under protection or free trade; under conservative, liberal or labour governments, it matters not. From every corner of the globe; from all sorts, colours and creeds of workers, comes the one and the same cry, “What can be done to present the high cost of living?” Because prices of certain articles are high it does not necessarily mean that those particular articles have increased in value.

No! It is the tendency of all commodities to day to decrease in value. The value of a commodity is determined by the amount of necessary social labour embodied in its production. It should be plain to all, that in the machine age, the same amount of labour is not spent in producing commodities as formerly. Their value ust, therefore, necessarily decrease.

High prices simply mean that gold – the universal medium of exchange – has decreased in value at a more rapid rate than other commodities.

Gold has been adopted as the universal medium of exchange merely because of its peculiar adoptability. It wears well and is easily recognised; it is almost impervious to counterfeit, and can be carried in a very small compass.

Gold is a commodity, as are labour-power, mules, coal, sheep, jam, boots, automobiles or socks. All commodities have decreased in value owing to inventions and new labour saving appliances. Gold – the medium of exchange – has decreased in value even more rapidly, until the sovereign to-day does not approach in its purchasing power the sovereign of years gone by.

The commodity gold – according to experts – costs less than half as much as it did a few years ago, by reason of the newer and more economical processes of treatment. It will be plain, then, to all that the sovereign has lost some fifty percent of its previous purchasing power.

Having learned, then, that out wages will buy merely about half of what they purchased a generation ago, is there not sufficient justification for making a bold bid for more wages and take back the loot that has been stolen?

The wages of the working class, in the aggregate, are determined by the necessities of life; the necessity of reproducing its labour-energy from day to day. Why not, then, fellow workers, make some of those so-called luxuries, necessities? The necessities of today were luxuries yesterday.

FELLOW-WORKERS! JOIN THE INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD AND LEARN HOW TO CONJURE LUXURIES INTO NECESSITIES.