I was thinking about how the labor market works and I came to a realization I'm sure economists are already aware of, but, fuck it.
Labor is sold on a market, right? If there is too much labor, the price falls. Companies are willing to pay less for it. If there is less labor than demand, they are forced to pay more.. right?
But, that leaves out reality.. the fact is, the way society is structured, offering labor is tied to being allowed to remain alive. You have to sell your labor to eat.
As a result, when the price of your labor is so low that it just makes zero sense for you to even be out there, because the juice isn't worth the squeeze, you have no choice but to continue selling your labor, generally. In fact, people will continue to sell their labor, even at a loss ( labor revenue is less than their operating expenses ) for extended periods.
This leads to a massive overabundance of labor, which companies are absolutely used to. It amounts to the labor market being fixed by the human condition. Labor sells for whatever the BUYER wants to pay for it, because there's next to no competition. Some other body will fill the hole if you don't want to agree to the terms.
I don't know about you – but when I go to a store to buy something, they tell me what it costs. The fact that your employer has the power to dictate to YOU what your labor costs, instead of accepting or rejecting YOUR terms, should really clue you in to systemic problems with the concept of a “labor market.” The labor market is inevitably fixed, and thus, you MUST sell your labor, even if the price is extremely disagreeable.