Krisis-Group
A corpse rules society – the corpse of labour. All powers around the globe formed an alliance to defend its rule: the Pope and the World Bank, Tony Blair and Jörg Haider, trade unions and entrepreneurs, German ecologists and French socialists. They don’t know but one slogan: jobs, jobs, jobs!
Norbert Trenkle
When the ‘Manifesto against Labour’ was published in Germany, June 1999, the called « new economy » was just in the apex of its intoxication, financed by the Stock Exchange. The colossal valorization of the shares of stock had obnubilated the brains and incentivated an unreal and hysterical atmosphere of success, making believe that anyone could become rich overnight, as soon as he insists with enough proficiency. The university students in charge of the market advertising reach point of spread the rumor that capitalism had liberated himself from their own laws and from now on it could work without crisis.
Norbert Trenkle
For a person socialised in the Western World labour is simply a self-evident thing; self-evident to that extent that he/she would not even give a second thought to what labour actually is. If one asked somebody, the reply would probably be that work is nothing but an appropriate physical and mental activity hence an everlasting necessity for the human existence. Maybe, he/she goes so far to say that labour is the very essence of humanity. Through labour mankind becomes different from other mammals because it is labour, which liberates men from nature. An essay with the title “Anteil der Arbeit an der Menschwerdung der Affen” (app. The essential role of laobur in the transformation process from the Ape to Human Being), written by Friedrich Engels at the end of the 19th century, nowadays would probably thought to be quite pompous. However, the very phrasing is still able to pinpoint the prevailing state of awareness. It is quite revealing, that German Trade Unions deem this particular pamphlet of Engels’ to be one of the few that still deserves it to be used in their training courses for members.
by Bob Black
Work is the source of nearly all the misery in the world. Almost any evil you’d care to name comes from working or from living in a world designed for work. In order to stop suffering, we have to stop working.
