Aaron Benanav, Dr. Asatar Bair and the Saturday Crüe

THIS IS REVOLUTION ＞podcast

English - June 23, 2021 14:00 - 2 hours - 153 MB - ★★★★★ - 172 ratings
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Previous Episode: THIS IS REVOLUTION>podcast Ep. 145: Who Will Protect Us From the Guardians w/ Director Billie Mintz

Next Episode: THIS IS REVOLUTION>podcast Ep. 147: The Selective Memory of Empire: The Forgotten History of Central America w/ Aviva Chomsky

“For many ages to come the old Adam will be so strong in us that everybody will need to do some work if he is to be contented. We shall do more things for ourselves than is usual with the rich today, only too glad to have small duties and tasks and routines. But beyond this, we shall endeavour to spread the bread thin on the butter-to make what work there is still to be done to be as widely shared as possible. Three-hour shifts or a fifteen-hour week may put off the problem for a great while. For three hours a day is quite enough to satisfy the old Adam in most of us! “

That quote from John Maynard Keynes for a shortened work week and more time for leisure is not just a vision for an aristocratic elite, but what Keynes thought would be a reality for all. It was Keynes utopian vision of what we could achieve under capitalism. Keyes couldn’t have predicted the rise of neoliberal economics in the 70’s and the presidency of Reagan in the U.S. and Thatcher in the UK that went to war on labor rights. The gig economy and “hustle culture” promote longer work hours. The tech world is filled with stories of people feeling forced to put in over 50-60 hours per week.

But, with the rise automation and technology are we truly on the precipice of robots taking our jobs?

Is capitalism automating us out of work? Or is automation the pathway to a communist utopia?

About Aaron Benanav:
Aaron Benanav is an economic historian and social theorist. Currently, he holds a postdoctoral researcher position at Humboldt University of Berlin and is the academic coordinator for the research unit “Re-Allocation” in the Cluster of Excellence “SCRIPTS: Contestations of the Liberal Script,” a seven-year project funded by the German Research Foundation. Benanav also serves as an editorial board member for the journal International Labor and Working Class History.
Find out more and get Aaron's book at his website here:
https://www.aaronbenanav.com/

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The Dispatch on Zero Books (video essay series):
https://youtu.be/nSTpCvIoRgw

Medium:
https://jasonmyles.medium.com/kill-the-poor-f9d8c10bc33d

Pascal Robert's Black Agenda Report:
https://www.blackagendareport.com/author/Pascal%20Robert