>>Regardless of the system - if work isn't properly rewarded, it will be done at minimal speed and quality. For every guy who got off cheap, by swindling others and getting away with it, by pulling a fast one and getting lost before anyone noticed, by extracting money from a place where they'd rather suffer the loss than publicly suffer the shame (and diminished confidence in their security), for every bailout CEO who takes home a few million a month in a middle of a disaster... there's a dozen guys who say "screw this - why should I break my neck over this work, for only this pittance? Look at those guys!".
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>This is the perfect argument against government and union jobs (and much of socialism).

Nope - it's against uravnilovka, or equal bellies policy. The above paragraph begins with "Regardless of the system" and goes on to describe how it can go wrong - well, it can also be done right, regardless of the system. The 150 years of permanent rise, the personal standard for pretty much everybody was stalled at the end of the seventies, and has actually begun to fall since. If that trend can be reversed, there's hope. It's not slaves who made this country great, it's the people who came here to chase their dream, and who were motivated. As the motivation dwindles, so do the results. Yea, the profits did rise, but where to find new host now?

> Been there, done that, seen it all....are you sure you aren't referring to the government and union jobs here in the U.S. where people are rewarded for years of service and not for production, creativity, or inventiveness?

I've seen it work one way. When the company gets in trouble, all of a sudden their worst problem is whatever they owe to the workers, so there has to be a show of solidarity, we all have to share the burden, we need to sacrifice something to keep us all afloat etc etc.

Somehow when the business is good, there doesn't seem to be an outburst of solidarity in the opposite direction. If there is, it doesn't get far in the news.

As for the unions here, I think they're bureaucratized (and probably sold out) far beyond repair. No wash, make new. Still doesn't mean that the idea of unions is wrong; it's just that the ones that presently exist here are probably just another part of the system which works in favor of working people's damage.