A Vision, Strategy, Analysis and Resources
By Wade Hudson
Dialogue
modified: 08/Oct/2002
|
Home
Why?
|
On this page, the author will respond to comments that are
posted to the Public Comments page
On January 29, 2002, Henk Devos wrote:
Take for example your idea that people should no longer be motivated to work because it would give them advantages like a good income or a good status. What will happen is clear. Nobody wants to work anymore. Why would they? It brings them nothing. They have no motivation at all....(D)ifferences in income and in social status are necessary to make any community viable.
I'm puzzled by how you got the impression that I propose complete equality in terms of income or status and/or eliminating the motivation to increase one's income or status. The numerous references to "higher income" people in the statement clearly indicate the acceptance of such differentials.
Two passages may have contributed to some ambiguity. The first is: "Making money is no longer society’s driving force." However, this sentence does not envision that "making money" is no longer a motivation. Rather, it merely suggests that other factors are equally or more important, both in personal lives and in politics.
The second possibly ambiguous passage is "Economic security has led to less urgency about getting promoted and being 'top dog.' Workers are learning how to be more cooperative. Cutthroat competition is fading." But again, this statement clearly does not envision the absence of interest in "getting promoted," rather merely "less urgency." Nor does it project the reduction of all competition, but only cutthroat competition.
So I don't believe that lack of motivation would be a problem, as you anticipate. Being assured the opportunity to work in a meaningful public-service job that pays enough to make ends meet decently would be sufficient for some people. But others, probably a large majority, would still want much more than that and would work to get it.
In fact, I believe that the proposals presented here are much more similar to existing European social systems, which you affirm, than they are to any Communist system.. I hope these comments will make that clear.
I appreciate your criticisms, however, and will consider how to clarify the statement so that others will not get the wrong impression on these points.
--Wade Hudson