But the putting of labour-power into action—i.e., the work—is the active expression of the labourer’s own life. And this life activity he sells to another person in order to secure the necessary means of life. His life-activity, therefore, is but a means of securing his own existence. He works that he may keep alive. He does not count the labour itself as a part of his life; it is rather a sacrifice of his life. It is a commodity that he has auctioned off to another. The product of his activity, therefore, is not the aim of his activity. What he produces for himself is not the silk that he weaves, not the gold that he draws up the mining shaft, not the palace that he builds. What he produces for himself is wages; and the silk, the gold, and the palace are resolved for him into a certain quantity of necessaries of life, perhaps into a cotton jacket, into copper coins, and into a basement dwelling. And the labourer who for 12 hours long, weaves, spins, bores, turns, builds, shovels, breaks stone, carries hods, and so on—is this 12 hours’ weaving, spinning, boring, turning, building, shovelling, stone-breaking, regarded by him as a manifestation of life, as life? Quite the contrary. Life for him begins where this activity ceases, at the table, at the tavern, in bed. The 12 hours’ work, on the other hand, has no meaning for him as weaving, spinning, boring, and so on, but only as earnings, which enable him to sit down at a table, to take his seat in the tavern, and to lie down in a bed. If the silk-worm’s object in spinning were to prolong its existence as caterpillar, it would be a perfect example of a wage-worker.
Wagelabor and capital
Hot take: this also applies to military servicemen and women. Lemmy loves to shit on them, but some people make the best of the draw in life in the military. I know a young airman who was spit on and called a baby killer while he was having lunch in public (wearing fatigues). He’s never been in combat, and his position in life is drastically improved from military training and benefits.
Get a job? Why don’t I strap on my job helmet and squeeze down into a job cannon and fire off into Jobland, where jobs grow on jobbies
You can work at any soul-crushing job you like, assuming you are willing to submit yourself to the nightmare machine of corporate hiring every time you want to change companies.
Don’t forget the health insurance anchor.
Man, I’m embarrassed I needed this explained to me, but anchor is such a good description. Imagine what people could/would do if they didn’t have to be bound to their employer by health insurance.
Right. So, if yall just quit buying in we will be rewarded with universal healthcare.
Some people will need to suffer. It’s just, by choice now or by force for way more later.
And yea, I put my money where my mouth is. I’ve been homeless before even getting one of these awful miserable jobs. I don’t work for anyone but myself.
This was my mind set in my early twenties and our collective society never aligned to actually change the system.
I had to finally get a corporate role and join the machine but I have good benefits. I feel defeated but I need the benefits.
If I didn’t need health insurance, I would make all kinds of things in the shop for fun. Literally all day, working with my hands.
But I need insurance.
So I spend all day typing.
I think this is one of the big ones that a lot of people in the civilized world don’t get. If I lose my job, right now, I lose access to my medications unless I wanna pay the $250/mo to buy them out of pocket. A simple doctor’s visit to my NP is about $400 out of pocket assuming no blood draws or anything.
Medicaid exists, but it takes time to kick in, and now I also have to do, and provide proof I did, at least 80 hr/mo of acceptable (validity up to my state) work, community service, or volunteer work, ON TOP OF having to look for a job, in order to keep my Medicaid.
OMG, yes! I know people typically think of universal healthcare as a socialist policy, but I really think it is a capitalist one for this s very reason. How many innovations have we missed because someone needed to stay at a shitty job for the insurance?
And the health"care" insurance, dont forget that!
Yeah, this is a big one in the US. I lost my job in May. The COBRA continuation of coverage costs over $2000 per month to maintain my previous health insurance and around $700 more for dental/vision. It’s insane.
You’re a slave?
I’m a person and my name is Anakin!
I had a conversation about The Phantom Menace about how Anakin and Shmi live in a multi-room dwelling by themselves, are given time off, and have enough free time and resources for Anakin to build a protocol droid and multiple pod racers (remember: it’s said that he’s never finished a race, so either his earlier racers broke down mid-race and had to get towed or else were wrecked).
How does this lifestyle comport with them being slaves?
Sure, they have explosive neck bolts and can be bought and sold, but their lifestyle seems rather outside of what we think of today as slavery.
My conclusion is that the Galaxy Far Far Away has a broader definition of slavery.
There’s a few types of employment in the GFFA. There’s self-employment and business ownership, like bounty hunting, running your own diner, playing in a band, or operating a cargo business that avoids Imperial entanglements.
There’s employment within a military or paramilitary organization, like Grand Army of the Republic, the Empire, or the Jedi.
And then there’s being a slave. You need to work for someone else or you die. Maybe you can or can’t be literally sold. But you don’t have a choice about the fact that you need employment or you will flat out die in the streets. If you aren’t defining the terms of your own employment or you aren’t earning rank in a military organization, then you are a slave, by the terms of the Star Wars galaxy.
When people ask why you don’t just leave your terrible relationship…
Slavery never went away in 'Murica
It was just re-branded
and in canada we copy homework from the states a lot. just the wrong answers.
“Anyone can get a better job” /= “everyone can get a better job.”
“freedom to work” is actually “freedom to starve yourself”
Choice always exists but change is scary.
Also, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side… sometimes it’s just spray painted. Then you get over there and its just as bad if not worse.
And sometimes it’s one of the most amazing things that you can actually do
And that’s the problem you never know. But you can always change again.
You’re implying that there is always employment choice which is untrue. I guess you could choose to be unhoused without medical care and food.
So, first, food is plentiful. No one starves in the usa. Not even the homeless.
Being homeless was much better than working at, say, Burger King or Walmart. At least it was for me.
Please read the above comment. Let’s not lose track of the fact that anyone who needs a salary to support themselves is working class. The main point is mobilize against the billionaires. Anything else is wasted time.
Not in this economy
I mean I have been lucky in that most of my jobs are less soul crushing than others but work is always going to be somewhat soul crushing.
