Letter from Jon Bekken

to: Discussion Bulletin

Fellow Workers,

In the most recent Discussion Bulletin, two minor errors have crept in. Alexis Buss' article on the demise of the Turtles & Teamsters front in fact ends with the reference to turtle soup. What followed was a separate article, not by FW Buss. Similarly, the Libertarian Manifesto reprinted from Anarcho-Syndicalist Review did not include the quote from La Acracia -- it was printed (separated by a rule) to balance out the page.

On an unrelated note, I was somewhat shocked by Frank Girard's review a couple of issues back of my pamphlet on the Four Hour Day. It is one thing to disagree with my position, it is quite another to so grossly misrepresent the argument. Contrary to FW Girard's claim, the pamphlet nowhere suggests legislative action for this or any other purpose. Indeed, as he later notes (suggesting that I, rather than he, am confused) I explicitly note the futility of legislation, arguing that only through direct action at the point of production can real progress be made on this front.

FW Girard may well take exception to my argument, believing along with De Leon that it is impossible to ameliorate our condition until the great day when capitalism is overthrown. It seems clear to me that in fact our conditions have been improved in substantial ways over the last 100 years, even if the capitalists are now in the process of seizing back much of what was gained, taking advantage of our disorganized and misorganized condition. I believe that such gains are a necessary part of the revolutionary struggle, teaching our fellow workers that it is in fact possible for us to materially change the conditions of our existence - and in the school of struggle we develop both our capacity and our vision. A working class that meekly accepts whatever working hours and conditions the capitalists seek to impose will never find the strength and determination to put an end to their vicious rule.

Moreover, even when capitalism has been overthrown the question of how long we should work, and to what purpose, will remain. The struggle over the work day is at root a struggle to reclaim our lives, a declaration that it is not enough merely to demand a better wage, a refusal to allow our lives to be measured out in dollars or products. Our lives are, in every sense, more than our work, and the struggle to reclaim them is a fundamentally revolutionary one.

For a world without bosses,
Jon Bekken