CDR: Re: <nettime> Rebirth of Guilds

[Bill Stewart]

Mutual benefit societies didn't arise 
	"due to the inherent weakness of the state"
any more than horses appeared because of the need to pull carts.
Mutual benefit societies arose because they were ways for
people to help each other and to get help.

In some places, the state has taken over functions that people
used to get through social institutions, and in some places,
the state has helped business drive out the mutual benevolence groups
(for instance, in the US, banks and insurance companies had politicians 
make banking and insurance regulations that drove out many of the lending 
functions that benevolence groups provided.)

To some extent, the social institutions were strongest within
immigrant ethnic groups and other frontier social groups,
and weakened as cities grew and people assimilated into them -
in a mass society it's often easier to let the state be the
"somebody" who ought to do something rather than doing the work 
yourself.

At 12:43 PM 9/20/00 -0400, R. A. Hettinga forwarded:
>From: "Ben Moretti" <bmoretti at chariot.net.au>
>To: nettime-l at bbs.thing.net
>Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 01:27:40 GMT
>Subject: <nettime> Rebirth of Guilds
>
>[the actual report is well worth reading. i have held privately that the
mutual
>benefit societies and groups that played an important role in south australia
>in the 19th century arose due to the inherent weakness of the state in the
>colony, and that these groups would re-arise due to the same reasons. i know
>adecdotally that there is a long line of these stretching back -- freemasons,
>mechanics institutes, mutual benefit funds, etc -- so it only seems
logical as
>we move into a weak state mode of history, it would happen again. b.]



				Thanks! 
					Bill
Bill Stewart, bill.stewart at pobox.com
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