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Antiwork

Exploitation or poverty?

Wage competition, inflation, neglectful policy are eating away at the price of labour in developed economies. So while it's fine to worry about whether or not we're being exploited, why don't we also worry about the fact that there is a genuine risk of living standards progressively falling (in theory until they are just high enough for us to simultaneously survive and continue to work (i.e. the cost of supply of labour))? ​ From a purely self-interested point of view, if the per-hour price of labour (yes, I know it's labour power if you're a Marxist, no I don't think everyone agrees with you, so let's just stick to common phrases for now) continues to reduce, people working for a living will continue to see a decline in their living standards, one way or another- either by having less free time, or less money, or both. So on a purely…


Wage competition, inflation, neglectful policy are eating away at the price of labour in developed economies. So while it's fine to worry about whether or not we're being exploited, why don't we also worry about the fact that there is a genuine risk of living standards progressively falling (in theory until they are just high enough for us to simultaneously survive and continue to work (i.e. the cost of supply of labour))?

From a purely self-interested point of view, if the per-hour price of labour (yes, I know it's labour power if you're a Marxist, no I don't think everyone agrees with you, so let's just stick to common phrases for now) continues to reduce, people working for a living will continue to see a decline in their living standards, one way or another- either by having less free time, or less money, or both. So on a purely selfish level, why are we not protecting the price of the single asset most of us have to sell that is of any value?

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