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Georgelemental · 2022-12-09 23:32:24

The working class gets its power from its ability to choose whether or not to work. Without work, there is no workers' movement

Fjolsvith | karma 1184 | avg karma 0.38 · | 2020-03-17 15:26:00+00:00

Ah, but in Capitalism, they can choose not to work.

tomp | karma 21535 | avg karma 2.82 · | 2022-06-05 15:27:22

Most people don’t have the freedom to choose not to work.

antisthenes | karma 3681 | avg karma 1.09 · | 2023-09-25 20:17:47

There are only 2 classes, the worker class, and the ownership class that doesn't really have to work (e.g. could stop working tomorrow and be fine until retirement/death)

diyseguy | karma 278 | avg karma 1.22 · | 2016-03-09 13:45:20+00:00

You can't really choose not to work though. Ask anyone to honestly answer if they would work if they didn't have to and the answer is obvious: No one wants to work, not really. In America there are basically two choices for the majority: work or suicide

di4na | karma 2078 | avg karma 2.77 · | 2016-12-08 14:08:16+00:00

They can also not go to work. Choice is fast to do.

michaelbrave | karma 773 | avg karma 2.15 · | 2019-12-14 16:28:34

Ah yes, the choice of working or not working.

esperent | karma 5240 | avg karma 3.42 · | 2023-08-06 20:59:18

Not wanting to work is a valid life choice. Western societies produce a massive excess of goods, we don't need everyone to spend their lives working.

aflag | karma 1715 | avg karma 1.63 · | 2023-05-12 06:45:27

Some people don't want to go to work. Yet, they do because they feel it's necessary.

bhhaskin | karma 2350 | avg karma 2.63 · | 2023-01-11 14:24:13

There is a difference between those that can't work and those that choose not to work.

smif | karma 83 | avg karma 2.37 · | 2023-06-16 08:55:44

The overwhelming majority of people work because they realistically have no choice but to work.

There is no amount of neoliberal salad dressing that you can douse that with to make it more palatable to anyone.

Doing shit because you have no choice but to do it sucks, period.

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dagw | karma 25328 | avg karma 2.79 · | 2023-10-03 04:04:59

If Warren Buffet stopped working tomorrow, how long do you think it would take for him to fall behind on his bills and default on his mortgage? That is the basic differentiator. If you work because you have to, then you are working class. If you work primarily because you want to, then you are not. There is of course also a large 'grey' area of people who could stop working and live quite comfortably, but feel compelled to keep working to finance their current lifestyle.

Mtinie | karma 2028 | avg karma 2.94 · | 2017-10-17 02:19:57+00:00

Yo have the perceived choice not to work, but that doesn’t mean you’ll survive. A hallmark of capitalism is smoke and mirrors.

jsprogrammer | karma 1146 | avg karma 0.37 · | 2016-01-04 04:05:09+00:00

No one has the right to make you work. However, enough work must be done to allow you to exist.

Koshkin | karma 7543 | avg karma 1.41 · | 2020-09-23 16:04:41+00:00

But does that include choosing not to work (because you do not have to in order to survive)?

TulliusCicero | karma 16642 | avg karma 3.49 · | 2015-02-12 01:37:50

You can indeed choose to not work. But you might, like, starve.

dwb | karma 752 | avg karma 2.43 · | 2020-07-12 20:28:47

Having a completely free choice whether or not to take a job is a luxury afforded to very few people.

bambax | karma 21971 | avg karma 4.52 · | 2022-07-20 07:00:25

Nobody ever "wanted" to work, and that's been true since at least the agricultural revolution. People work because they have to, and stop the minute they don't.

Today still, in some parts of the world, lower echelons of society are called "the working class", because needing to work is very effective at discriminating between haves and have nots. If work was somehow desirable in and of itself, it would be the other way around: the working class would describe those lucky enough to have a job.

People complaining that "nobody wants to work anymore" are usually people not working themselves, who fail to understand that in order to find someone willing to do your own laundry, you have to pay them a fair wage.

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Shaanie | karma 570 | avg karma 2.25 · | 2023-06-04 17:59:01

People who don't work are usually economic parasites for those who do, so it makes sense to encourage working regardless of which economic system is used.

selfhoster11 | karma 5178 | avg karma 1.98 · | 2020-09-21 07:50:53

Money isn't everything, but without it there isn't much that you can do to sustain yourself. I'm privileged to be where I am today, and I keep this at the forefront of my mind as I see people struggling in jobs that are all about physical labour or the service sector, if they have a job at all (or are on zero-hour contracts). Choosing a job is something that only select people have as an option, in the grand picture.