tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642011.post111633154062817403..comments2023-10-29T10:32:36.914-04:00Comments on Philosophy, et cetera: The Prostitution of LabourRichard Y Chappellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16725218276285291235noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642011.post-1116557514196626352005-05-19T22:51:00.000-04:002005-05-19T22:51:00.000-04:00The idea of employers as 'bad' and employees as 'e...The idea of employers as 'bad' and employees as 'exploited' is an unfortunate tendency in political thought. Certainly these situations arise, but I know of employers who, most unexpectedly, are struggling more than their employees. And all will go down together in harder times.<BR/>A more ideal situation would arise when the basic economic factor of property in land was treated properly. In theory wages would rise to their more accurate value, and employers would be more equal in the market place, allowing each person and type to find the best operating niche for their particular mental, physical and emotional capabilities as they were expressed in providing service or product to others.<BR/>Some prefer, work best and are generally happy in a stolid factory like routine ... fine, so did I at one time. Others are almost violently the opposite. Creative, innovative or risk taking, .. fine, I found that too with art, though i might remark that I suspect everyone needs periods ( long periods!) of dry, drawn out effort to finally get anywhere.<BR/>Humans also grow and change .. I think are happiest and most fullfilled when doing so. Freedom to do this is most likely to occur in such a set up as I hint at. <BR/> I do not think it will ever happen unfortunately. There are deeply held ideas and needs that must be 'cut across' if there was to be widespread understanding of such an approach .. let alone a change to it. <BR/>sum up .. it is not being an 'employee' as such, which could be called exploitation or prostitution, rather it CAN BE, when the power and wealth holding arrangements of economic society deprives one of the full reward of labour and reduces opportunity. <BR/>( end of rave!)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642011.post-1116485178144400882005-05-19T02:46:00.000-04:002005-05-19T02:46:00.000-04:00> We submit our person to the power of bosses, who...> We submit our person to the power of bosses, who can then exert almost arbitrary control over our working lives. This is morally degrading.<BR/><BR/>Surely you can exert fairly arbitrary power over your employers life - you have acess to a large amount of his stuff he has access to most probably none of your stuff. <BR/>Fundimentally the worker is in a much more powerful position than the employer with more ability to hurt. the disadvantage of course comes when the boss is richer (which is not always true) or there are more workers in that particular area than there are businesses (quite likely but not always true). But these are variables and will always be applicable to varying degrees. <BR/><BR/>> The worker is objectified, and used merely as a means for the employer's benefit.<BR/><BR/>surely the employer is used only for the workers benefit - except in as far as he is somehow less rational than the employer (which is probably true).<BR/><BR/>> In a more just system, people would not have to give up their humanity for forty hours (or more) a week. <BR/><BR/>you give up your humanity?<BR/><BR/>> Perhaps it's unavoidable, I'm not sure. At least there seems to be room for improvement <BR/><BR/>at some point human labour will become obsolete so we wont ahve any problems there anymore we wont be exploited.. well at least not in that sense......<BR/><BR/>> I suspect most people would be willing to sacrifice some degree of material prosperity to achieve this social good. But of course the criticial question is, "how much?"<BR/><BR/>The problem is the sacrifice must be infinite as long as anyone does not sacrifice. You cant be the only country that decides not to work - or you will be out competed and eventually your system will be consumed by theirs. (even if it comes in the form of aid workers).Geniushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11624496692217466430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642011.post-1116367462648168992005-05-17T18:04:00.000-04:002005-05-17T18:04:00.000-04:00Your argument looks like:Wage labor is like prosti...Your argument looks like:<BR/><BR/><I>Wage labor is like prostitution.<BR/>Prostitution is degrading.<BR/>Therefore wage labor is degrading.</I><BR/><BR/>The syllogism is sound, but there are plenty of objections to the premises.<BR/><BR/>First, COYOTE, free love types, and libertarians will deny that prostitution is per se degrading, and argue that the degradation you see is an effect of its widespread criminalization and stigmatization.<BR/><BR/>Also, the analogy between prostitution fails, because the whole thing about prostitution is that it involves the special <B>sex</B> activity. No one (that I've heard) is claiming that assembling cars or digging ditches is a sacrament.<BR/><BR/>You'd be better off sticking with<BR/><BR/>"<I>We submit our person to the power of bosses, who can then exert almost arbitrary control over our working lives</I>"<BR/><BR/>Here, you can usefully indict most, but not all, of the wage labor that gets done in the world today, and most of the non-wage labor, I bet.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com