well, maybe not everyone can be a portuguese peasant...we need shoemakers and seamstresses and woodworkers and mechanics and sailors and teachers, and even a few managers or cadres, modestly paid, perhaps no more than ten times the base wage at the top of the scale, all to help move everyone towards a good common goal.
and this, for all of us, and not just for those in western europe. for this "simple life" i think wee're both getting at is not a sacrifice for the vast majority of our fellow man in other parts of the world.
there may be a bit of a craving for many, but there'll be something else too - peace. Fai de bèn a Bertrand, te lou rendra en cagant
Blackspot - Blackspot Shoes
The Blackspot Shoes factory is located in a rural region of Portugal called Felgueiras, an area steeped in 400 years of shoe-making tradition. The factory has been owned and operated by the same family for three generations. The owners have a reputation for being excellent employers. ... The minimum wage in Portugal is 365 Euros per month. Workers in this factory earn between 420 and 700 Euros per month, depending on their job and seniority. In addition to basic salary, workers receive 25 paid days off and two extra months of pay per year, which works out to 35% above minimum wage. ... We met with employees who belong to the union; we met with workers who liaison between employees and the union (shop stewards); we met with union staff and staff of the government-run umbrella organization that administers the union. All meetings were in private. All the people we interviewed were unequivocal in their praise of the factory. A high degree of transparency was evident.
...
The minimum wage in Portugal is 365 Euros per month. Workers in this factory earn between 420 and 700 Euros per month, depending on their job and seniority. In addition to basic salary, workers receive 25 paid days off and two extra months of pay per year, which works out to 35% above minimum wage.
We met with employees who belong to the union; we met with workers who liaison between employees and the union (shop stewards); we met with union staff and staff of the government-run umbrella organization that administers the union. All meetings were in private. All the people we interviewed were unequivocal in their praise of the factory. A high degree of transparency was evident.
- Jake If you only spend 20 minutes of the rest of your life on economics, go spend them here.
i saw an amazing documentary on arte about the italian immigrants to brazil after WW1. they arrived with almost nothing and recreated a most italian set up within 3 generations.
they chose land that reminded them of italy and made all their tools by hand, with an ingenious self-sufficiency that was so admirable.
the photography of their vineyards and wine cellars, their churches and their tools, were a revelation.
apparently there are more well preserved human powered tools there of european postmedieval design than can be found even in museums in italy. ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
