{"resolved":true,"match_type":"uuid","source_type":"original_book","book_id":"4a3d22bd-c5b9-47a4-a022-bd35d44d9bfe","title":"Zombie Capitalism Global Crisis and the Relevance of Marx","author":null,"edition":null,"publisher":null,"year":null,"isbn":"9781608461042","requested_by":"printed_page","book":{"source_type":"original_book","book_id":"4a3d22bd-c5b9-47a4-a022-bd35d44d9bfe","id":"4a3d22bd-c5b9-47a4-a022-bd35d44d9bfe","uuid":"4a3d22bd-c5b9-47a4-a022-bd35d44d9bfe","title":"Zombie Capitalism Global Crisis and the Relevance of Marx","normalized_title":"zombiecapitalismglobalcrisisandtherelevanceofmarx","author":null,"edition":null,"publisher":null,"year":null,"isbn":"9781608461042","isbns":["9781608461042"],"parsed":true,"ai_readable":true,"document_type":"book","page_count":426,"navigation_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/book/4a3d22bd-c5b9-47a4-a022-bd35d44d9bfe","title_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/title/Zombie%20Capitalism%20Global%20Crisis%20and%20the%20Relevance%20of%20Marx","fixed_page_url_template":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/book/4a3d22bd-c5b9-47a4-a022-bd35d44d9bfe/page/{printed_page}","path_api_url_template":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/book/4a3d22bd-c5b9-47a4-a022-bd35d44d9bfe/page/{printed_page}","read_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/read/4a3d22bd-c5b9-47a4-a022-bd35d44d9bfe","page_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/books/4a3d22bd-c5b9-47a4-a022-bd35d44d9bfe/page","search_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/books/4a3d22bd-c5b9-47a4-a022-bd35d44d9bfe/search"},"page":{"printed_page":134,"pdf_page":134,"physical_index":134,"physical_index_base":0,"printed_page_status":"recognized","page_sha256":"ef0fe31928e34e963fd6fd11b7060236a2ad967ff2fe58522da71c706d815661"},"chapter":"Zombie Capitalism Global Crisis and the Relevance of Marx","content":"The belief that change was necessary if Britain was to compete successfully with Germany and the United States remained central. Whether the argument was formulated by the Fabians or by Liberal imperialists the concentration was on the damage that poverty was doing to society rather than the misery it caused individual workers . . . The underlying reason for the desire to improve the health of the working class was the need for a healthier labour force in the factories and the army.30\n\nThese measures were not simply a result of capitalists getting together and deciding what was rational for their system. They came into being only after recurrent campaigns involving upper class philanthropists with a conservative disdain for the money-grabbing grubbiness of capitalism, middle class moralisers about working class behaviour, political opportunists out to get working class votes, factory inspectors and doctors with professional concerns about people's safety and well-being-and, alongside them and often independently of them, trade union and socialist activists. But such coalitions framed the projects they pursued in terms of what they saw as rational for capitalism. And that meant what was necessary to supply it with pools of suficiently healthy and skilled labour power. This was shown clearly by one feature that characterised the reforms of the early 20th century just as much as it had the charitable efforts of the early 1 9th century. Any benefits were always to be provided in such a way as to coerce into seeking work all those who were fit and able. The principle of \"less eligibility\" had to apply: getting the benefit must still leave the recipients worse off than the worst paid work. What is more, the benefits were not meant to come from a diversion of value from capital to labour, but by a redistribution of income within the working class through the \"the insurance principle\". Weekly payments from those able to work were to sustain those unable to do so because of sickness or unemployment.\n\n134\n\nUnderstanding the System: Marx and Beyond","previous_page":133,"next_page":135}