Editing Jane Jacobs (section)

=== ''Systems of Survival'' ===
{{Main|Systems of Survival}}

''Systems of Survival: A Dialogue on the Moral Foundations of Commerce and Politics'' (1992) moves outside of the city, studying the moral underpinnings of [[labour (economics)|work]]. As with her other work, she used an observational approach. This book is written as a [[Plato]]nic dialogue. It appears that she (as described by characters in her book) took newspaper clippings of moral judgments related to work, collected and sorted them to find that they fit two patterns of moral behavior that were mutually exclusive. She calls these two patterns "moral syndrome A", or commercial moral syndrome, and "moral syndrome B", or guardian moral syndrome. She claims that the commercial moral syndrome is applicable to business owners, scientists, farmers, and traders. Similarly, she claims that the guardian moral syndrome is applicable to government, charities, hunter-gatherers, and religious institutions. She also claims that these moral syndromes are fixed, and do not fluctuate over time.

It is important to stress that Jane Jacobs is providing a theory about the morality of work, and not all moral ideas. Moral ideas that are not included in her system are applicable to both syndromes.

Jane Jacobs goes on to describe what happens when these two moral syndromes are mixed, showing the work underpinnings of the [[American Mafia|Mafia]] and communism, and what happens when [[New York City Subway|New York subway]] police are paid bonuses here – reinterpreted slightly as a part of the larger analysis.