By Soham Patil
Socialists claim that any work done in a market economy is oppressive because labor in that situation cannot be adequately compensated.
We need to work so someone can oppress us. How else would we get our fill of oppression?
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Working is a fact that has been present in our lives since time immemorial. I was always taught that work builds a man and allows you to fulfill your dreams.
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Perhaps this question should be linked to a more fundamental question, “Why Exist?” or another leading question “Would you work/what work- if you won $100 million in lottery” or "everything's being already given to you in a siver platter?"
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Would you work, if you won 1000 BTC?
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I think I would. I've never taken work for money. For me it's been for two purposes. One is to try and contribute for the betterment of humanity. The next is satisfying my passion.
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Same here. I wouldn't do exactly the same thing I do now, but it would probably be similar.
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I disagree with socialist on their assessment. The economy, isn’t oppressive, simply because labor cannot be adequately compensated. In most cases, labor can be adequately compensated, but in most cases, the profits are disproportionately split between employers and workers.
Most of the time, we are working for people who pay flat rates or salary’s. This is where a bulk of the exploitation happens. We want to keep our jobs, and generally in order to do that, we have to do things that were not in our job description when we were hired.
Some days the worker can be “over-paid” if there isn’t much work to be done. They can just pass time, get their hours done, and go home.
Other times they are bringing home the “honest check”, where the workload matches the pay and job description.
But when you get into peak seasons and hours, many of us are forced to wear several hats to keep the business functioning. This is where we get screwed the most.
The only environment where a worker has a choice, is an environment where said worker is paid a percentage based on performance. Most people opt out of these environments because pay can be inconsistent. Stack that with inflation which makes it impossible to save money for slower times of growth.
Most employer try to keep their labor budget at about 30% and use about 20% of their budget for advertising. They could make a choice to cut their advertising budget, and opt to pay individuals 50% of profits, but they don’t.
I believe that workers equally share some of the blame, because they opt for “security and stability”, even if they feel their skills and energy are being exploited. They accept low paying jobs instead of working in an environment that pays them based on their productivity.
People are afraid to take risks, and adverse to learning to increase their ability to earn more.
If the free market was based solely on percentages, with flat-rate wages eliminated, I think it would be healthier for a capitalist market. I also think it would be considerably healthier for the worker as well.
I think more people would choose jobs they like, boosting productivity in companies focused on quality products and knowledgeable workers. Strong cultures would thrive in this environment.
All it takes is one unselfish business owner to create a culture like this. Without us, these companies would have no sales. Most people are the only representatives of these companies that consumers know, doing all the work to create the sale, while the owners are never seen or heard from.
50/50 should be the way.
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That's a great nuanced answer. I urge against thinking of it as "blaming" workers, though. It's just a human tendency to be risk-averse and prefer stable income. That means the owners have to eat the volatility, which they aren't going to do for free.
There are also lots of labor costs that owners have to absorb, because of regulations. To an owner, that's effectively part of the workers' pay, whereas workers may not value those amenities at what they cost. That's one of the many ways the government exacerbates owner-worker relations.
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40 sats \ 1 reply \ @Golu 14 Aug
The view of these socialist is just misleading! We work because without work, the human existence won't be more than an animal. Even the animals work. Have you seen ants gathering for winters or rainy season?
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It may be misleading, but their distorted conception of "exploitation" is widely held and that causes a lot of unnecessary resentment.
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We have to work because we are not self-sufficient. Our GrandPas didn't really work for The Man, they worked on their farms and lived off the land. Then the government happen and taxes and regulations. You can't be Homesteading anymore like people widely used to. That's why you need to trade your time and effort for wages (which will be unlawfully taxed). I will not get into the "my God is better than yours debate" but some people do for religious reasons.
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I hope people on SN are not opposed to hearing a traditional Christian perspective.
The Bible says God created man and woman in his image, and that God Himself is a worker, taking six days to create the universe and taking the seventh day to rest.
Indeed, God created man to participate in the cultivation of his works. Genesis 2 says (paraphrasing), "When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant had yet sprung up... because there was no man to work the ground... the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life... the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it."
So, from the very beginning, humans were created by God to cultivate his work, transforming resources from a lower valued, raw state to a higher valued, developed state. Thus, Christian economic thought places a high spiritual value on vocation. Work is not something to be avoided, but is fundamental to human nature (as is resting from the work).
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I'm not religious, but I always appreciate hearing how concepts are articulated in different belief systems.
I'd love it if we could reclaim "exploitation" from the Marxists and ground it in a consent based understanding.
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most people work to survive, personally i work to break financial limitation
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I will explain it to you. Because, humans were invented, not evolved. Think about it. Why do humans, have no innate instincts, like other animals? Why is the concept of work so interwoven into human existence. Because you are a slave. You are a battery. You are nothing more than that. Concepts such as racial, familial, national pride, it was all a trap, it was all a snare. A slave to whom, you might ask? To the ones you cannot see.