It's Christmas Time: Time to Decrease the Surplus Population

"...many can't go, and many would rather die."

Scrooge "If they'd rather die then they better do it quick, and decrease the surplus population."

Karl Marx, the creator of the 'Reserve Arm of Labour.'

Marx argues the relative surplus population always has three forms: the floating, the latent and the stagnant.

* The floating part refers to the temporarily unemployed ("conjunctural unemployment").

* The latent part consists of that segment of the population not yet fully integrated into capitalist production - for example, part of the rural population. It forms a pool or reservoir of potential workers for industries.

* The stagnant part consists of marginalised people with "extremely irregular employment". Its lowest stratum (excepting criminals, vagabonds and prostitutes) "dwells in the sphere of pauperism", including those still able to work, orphans and pauper children, and the "demoralised and ragged" or "unable to work".

Marx then analyses the reserve army of labour in detail, using data on Britain where he lived.

Modern official social statistics however do not use these Marxian categories. Instead, the concepts of the "economically active population", the (employed and unemployed) "labour force", and the "jobless" are used. Important measurement criteria here are:

* whether somebody is actively looking for paid work ("unemployed")
* whether they are without paid work but would like to do paid work ("jobless")
* how many hours per week they actually do paid work.

People who are unable to work for one reason or another are normally not treated as "unemployed".

Now as far as his whole 'surplus population goes, his main goal is not employment, but unemployment.

This marxian idea would give us sky rocketing unemployment, bad jobs, and a crumbling private work force.