_-- Public Policy Network - Posting to [log in to unmask] --_ _ * * * _ _ Build your information exchange technical experience, _ _ join the PUBPOL volunteer team <[log in to unmask]>. _ -- -- EIGHTEENTH ESSAY 2-19-01 Moral Economics - Essays On The Relation of Economic Theory to the Moral Perspective in POVERTY AND DEVELOPMENT: AN INTER-FAITH PERSPECTIVE. [www.wfdd.org.uk/] This is the eighteenth of an occasional series of short essays about how economic theory interacts with a moral perspective. Readers are invited to discuss and to re-post widely, but please quote the source. DIGNITY OF WORK "...The purpose of work is not only to produce a livelihood and to maintain society, but also to bring about the personal fulfillment of the worker by his or her participation in the process of production and distribution, thereby giving service to the whole community...On the one hand, the right to work brings with it the right to fair returns on one's labor, which means either a fair wage or, in some cases, access to markets...On the other hand, space should be made for fully-recognized voluntary work. The ethos of service to others does not only mean self-sacrifice but also brings with it the possibility of self-fulfillment and satisfaction..." [POVERTY AND DEVELOPMENT: AN INTER-FAITH PERSPECTIVE, para 8.0] THE COMMODIFICATION OF LABOR Economic theory treats labor as a market commodity; the objective of an entrepreneur is to buy labor for a low wage and to sell its products at a high price. Yet, labor is the only commodity that many poor people possess that can be turned into cash in a market economy. This combination demeans people because it provides a rationale for entrepreneurial capitalists to treat people as objects. Workers are complex beings with needs, desires and fears that transcend their working lives. Also, people who work give of themselves and are entitled to a return for their work, which enables them to live a decent life. A moral society provides work that allows for a decent material living for its workers as well as opportunities for other forms of self-expression. A singular focus on labor as a commodity creates an immoral society in which people are exploited. Michael Pierce McKeever, Sr. Economics Instructor, Vista Community College, Berkeley, CA URL: www.mkeever.com [Note: no 'c' in mkeever] _------- -------_ Public Policy Network - PUBPOL-L Supported by the Public Affairs Student Assoc. Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs University of Minnesota http://www.hhh.umn.edu/pubpol/pubpol.htm Commands to: [log in to unmask] Subscribe: SUB PUBPOL-L "Your Name" _ Unsubscribe: UNSUB PUBPOL-L _ ------- -------