This question <45|48> overall <46|48> Tigerwater: <681-1|76>.  
  Question 68: Is it a character flaw to be lazy in an exploitive system?   
  [47] Tigerwater: Exploited workers choice to be lazy.   I disagree with Catfish [44] and Oak [43]. I don't believe that it is a character flaw for a worker to be lazy in an exploitive system. If a worker is paid to maintain a certain amount of efficiency throughout the work day, to produce as much of a commodity as possible, it would be to his benefit to do so. However, if a worker is expected to perform to a certain level without receiving adequate compensation for that performance, he is being exploited by his boss or the company he is working for. For example, Joe is paid $.15 for every 10 lug nuts he inspects and sends down the conveyor belt. Joe in turn inspects 10 lug nuts per minute and receives on average $9.00 for his work. In this case, Joe is going monetarily rewarded for being as efficient as possible. Joe's boss recognizes how efficient Joe is and realizes that he can save the company money by changing the pay grade system. So now Joe is paid $.15 for every 5 minutes worth of work and his boss is still expecting Joe to inspect 10 lug nuts per minute. Now Joe would not benefit monetarily by pushing himself to his maximum capacity. Joe's boss is taking advantage of Joe's efficiency and exploiting it to make the company more money. Because Joe is not reaping the rewards of his hard labor, he has a choice whether or not to perform to his full capacity. At this point, it would be Joe's choice, and I don't believe that he would be wrong, to allow his lug nut inspection speed to decrease to match the rate of his pay. Thus minimizing the amount of exploitation Joe is exposed to.   
  In a case like this, if Joe continued to work at his maximum capacity for the wage of $.15 per 5 minutes, the value of the lug nuts to the consumer has not gone up or down, but the profit of the company has increased. This profit is then not passed on to the consumer and the worker is not rewarded.   
  I believe that JohnHennry [2002fa:23] phrased it best when he said “...the impotent refusal to fully submit to exploitation is a rational choice whether aware of the overarching structure or not....This rational choice by no means constitutes a character flaw.”   
 
 
 
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