| This question <70|43> overall <71|76> Aux: <1404|380>. |
| Question 90: Is it a character flaw to be lazy in an exploitive system? |
| [73] Aux: character flaw to be lazy in exploitive system. This question is vague, and maybe intentionally so, but it does not specify the degree of exploitation that we are considering. If in fact we are imagining a system of complete exploitation where a laborer works only for a master then there is no incentive to do more than the mandatory amount of work aside from gaining the master's approval. I believe however that we are referring to a system that denies the laborer a portion of the production but allows enough to be kept to survive and in fact amass wealth if the laborer consumes less than is received. In this system it would clearly be a flaw to be lazy as the laziness would bring negative consequences for the laborer. The one alternative argument could be that a unified resistance in the form of laziness by all laborers could be used to coerce the master. In this I would have to disagree with Montecarlo's [69] assertion that a person's character exists independent of the situation. Some aspect if not all must be a direct reaction to the laborer's surroundings. |
| In a capitalist system each laborer produces in order to trade with another. Unfortunately for the laborer the capitalist gets a cut of the output due to ownership of the means of production. Montecarlo states that laborers gain from specialization. Common sense states that this is correct as specialization can increase production through the heightened skill levels of the laborers in their field resulting in an overall increase in commodities. However if we are basing all of our exchanges upon the congealed abstract labor in a commodity how can we benefit through specialization? Our labor pool remains the same and one laborer's increase in output would not provide an exchange advantage as every other laborer would have also increased their output. Following this logic the commodity that used to trade 2:1 now trades 4:2. More commodities are produced by all workers creating an overall inflation and not truly benefiting the laborers at all. |
| Hans: I fully agree with the two main points you are making: (1) working harder is not a remedy against exploitation, and (2) collective action is necessary; individual acts of protest are a form of capitulation. |
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