Wage slavery

Wage slavery is a term expressing disapproval of a condition where a person feels compelled to work in return for payment of a wage. In colloquial terms, this may refer to people that make a cult of work (the extreme case is dying of karoshi), or those who require one to work in order to be socially acceptable. In terms of criticism of capitalism, wage slavery is the condition where a particular person must sell his labor in order to survive. Critics of capitalism often believe that wage slavery exists in any situation where one person controls the inputs to production (capital and land) that another person uses to produce goods. This sort of criticism is generally encountered in anarchist and communist criticisms of capitalism, but is also found in the strain of liberalism represented by Henry George [1] and Thomas Paine [1]. Criticism of capitalism on these grounds is connected to the belief that one should have freedom to work without a boss or obligation. The use of the term 'wage slavery' is a rhetorical device to draw parallels between the status quo and a historical institution that is universally condemned. Wage slavery is juxtaposed with chattel slavery (typically called “slavery”), the institution where one person owns another person as property. The use of this term suggests that even with the abolition of chattel slavery, many individuals do not experience meaningful freedom and that one class of persons methodically acquires wealth that rightfully belongs to another. The concept of wage slavery is slightly different from chattel slavery in that no class of persons is explicitly identified by law as “slaves,” and likewise, no persons are explicitly the “masters” under the law. As a result of this difference, wage slavery is seen as a relationship between entire classes of persons with no clear distinction between the masters and the slaves. Instead, wage slavery is embodied in the institution of property ownership and the “master/slave” relationship emerges from the concentration of property in the hands of particular individuals. Critics of capitalism view this property system as a matter of convention, not natural law. From this viewpoint, employment agreements are not free of coercion, and any market interaction is artificially biased in favor of those with property. Another difference between wage slavery and chattel slavery is that many individuals who might be categorized as “wage slaves” do not suffer any significant material deprivations, and could easily invest in productive property if they only restrained their consumption. While advocates of free enterprise capitalism view such individuals as being a natural part of capitalism and proof of the fundamental freedom of the workers, critics of capitalism believe that the middle class in capitalist societies is the consequence of temporary market conditions, exploitation of one nation by another, or market regulation and wealth redistribution by a representative state. Critics of capitalism may view the working class to be slaves if employers have unrestricted power to fire individual workers. The "at will" employment arrangement means that a worker may be fired (or quit) for any reason. If a worker fears losing his job more than the employer fears losing a particular worker, then the employer can govern the personal life of the worker. For example, a worker may be fired based on his sexual orientation, unless protected by an enforceable anti-discrimination law. In an unrestrained form, this power even extends to basic civil liberties, such as the right to worship freely or to express political opinions. This power could also undermine the right to vote; fear of this factor was a significant motivator for instituting the secret ballot. This power arrangement is also evident in housing leases, where the personal behavior of leasees may be limited by the moral opinion of the owners. Instances of wage slavery that show the most similarity to chattel slavery occur in societies where educational opportunities are limited, unionization is violently suppressed, and property may be arbitrarily confiscated. By connection of global trade networks, these harsh instances of wage slavery are connected to and affect societies with stronger traditions of freedom and few noticeable effects of supposed wage slavery. Extreme critics of capitalism argue that the same basic relationships are present in all capitalist societies, even if their impact is lessened by various traditions such as state accountability to the people and the establishment of a mixed economy. A mixed economy permits some private control based upon ownership, but also supposedly exerts social control of capital through state ownership of certain industries or regulation of private economic relationships. Some proponents of neoliberalism advocate that the state only own those industries that are essential to life and provide it for free while at the same allowing the rest of the economy to remain capitalist. Extreme proponents of capitalism advocate that everything, even industries that are essential to life, should be private property, bought and sold on the free market. Critics of capitalism also assert that capitalist economic systems have a tendency to commodify the very things that should be most freely available in society — especially one that is technologically advanced. A pronounced lack of leisure time is commonly the focal point of such an argument.

See also

\n*9 to 5\n*citizen's dividend\n*lottery\n*Libertarian socialism\n*Marxism\n*proletariat\n*sarariman\n*self-sustainability\n*Socialism\n*social wage\n*Syndicalism

External links

\n*Creating Livable Alternatives to Wage Slavery\n*An economical theory\n*Special situations in USA