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Antiwork

Incentive structures of capitalism

I think what r/antiwork represents more than anything else, is the failure of the capitalist incentive structures that were put in place to keep the working class complacent. Since the 1970s, the advent of computers and better technology gave employers an excuse to decouple the rise in wages with the rise in productivity. Thus the former have stagnated and we find ever more insidious ways of keeping the workers in their place. The article posted regarding how debt keeps workers in the US from striking is an example of this, as well as the unanimous vote of the government to shut down the rail strike and forbid paid sick leave for those workers. What I think is good about this is the insane desperation capitalists seem to have now. All economic news outlets have their hot take of the week about how the working class is to blame for X,…


I think what r/antiwork represents more than anything else, is the failure of the capitalist incentive structures that were put in place to keep the working class complacent. Since the 1970s, the advent of computers and better technology gave employers an excuse to decouple the rise in wages with the rise in productivity. Thus the former have stagnated and we find ever more insidious ways of keeping the workers in their place. The article posted regarding how debt keeps workers in the US from striking is an example of this, as well as the unanimous vote of the government to shut down the rail strike and forbid paid sick leave for those workers. What I think is good about this is the insane desperation capitalists seem to have now. All economic news outlets have their hot take of the week about how the working class is to blame for X, Y, and Z. It would be obvious to anyone who has dealt with corporate America where the blame lies. As we fall deeper into crisis, Americans and other Western nations will be asking very serious questions about how to reform the status quo. The longer this reform takes, the more radical the outcome. But I must ask, and I know the answer of course, why did the capitalists not have the foresight to see where this would lead? Because capitalism is short sighted. They cannot predict the periodic crashes they are responsible for. They also have an absolute disdain for their workers, seeing themselves instead as Atlas holding up the world, and then as their hero Ayn Rand suggests, they shrug when the society becomes too demanding of their ill gotten gains. They crash the economic systems of the world and receive bailouts and apologies in news outlets, while their workers are out of a job and wondering if they will be able to find the gainful employment necessary to reach their former standard of living. We need to evolve beyond this barbaric system by any and all means necessary.

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