Industrial Britian had an enormous activist labor movement. A slew of left wing thinkers and agitators emerged from the British academic scene, including Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Ghandi.

I'm not asking about socialist or social democratic or labour movement policies in capitalist countries

How are you defining "Capitalist Country" if you ignore all the socialist policies a country has implemented?

Hell, how do you define Socialist Country, if you exclude every one that's undergone Capitalist accumulation?

8-hour work week is a socialist policy, espoused by socialist parties and implemented in governments with socialist majorities. Same with pensions and other public retirement funds.

The more socialists you have setting policy, the shorter your work week and the earlier your retirement.

[–] Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 1 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Industrial Britian had an enormous activist labor movement. A slew of left wing thinkers and agitators emerged from the British academic scene, including Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Ghandi.

Yeah because of how mega capitalist it was

How are you defining "Capitalist Country" if you ignore all the socialist policies a country has implemented?

Worker ownership of means of production, usually. Let's say Eastern Block, China, you get the picture.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 2 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Yeah because of how mega capitalist it was

Capital accumulation is a predicate for the surpluses needed to build a socialist economy.

Worker ownership of means of production, usually.

Public pensions and union shops lay claim to the surplus profits of capital. The UK's union membership peaked in the 1970s, as did its wages/pensions. After Thatcher, that share declined rapidly, as did the supply of council housing, the access to public health care and education, and the various other amenities common to socialist economies.

Let’s say Eastern Block, China, you get the picture.

The maoist uprising against the landlords was the largest and most comprehensive proletarian revolution in history, and led to almost totally-equal redistribution of land among the peasantry

Michael Parenti

Don't get much more "worker ownership of means of production" than that.

[–] Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 1 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (1 children)

You're not really giving any actual examples of automation shortening the work week in socialist countries here, unless a socialist country for you is the UK in the 70's and unless automation for you is a maoists uprising against landlords.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

You’re not really giving any actual examples of automation shortening the work week in socialist countries

I pointed you directly to the 8-day workweek, which was the consequence of socialist reforms following the industrial revolution.

You can find the same reforms implemented in socialist states ranging from Lenin's Russia to Sankara's Burkino Faso. It wasn't just in England that we got statutory limits on the labor day and rules for overtime pay.

[–] Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 1 points 17 minutes ago

I pointed you directly to the 8-day workweek, which was the consequence of socialist reforms following the industrial revolution.

And again it's not an achievement of socialist countries specifically. It happened (and originated) in the capitalist countries too.