| This question <680|691> overall <682|684> Karly: <553|88>. |
| Question 773: The only way the worker can improve his lot in society is to increase the productive powers of his labor. Right or wrong? |
| [683] Karly: Work harder or easier???? I agree with Franky [2004fa:585], to a certain extent, in regards to this question. He states that due to “displacement of workers by machinery” or capital replacing employment as Marx states, it won't matter what a worker does in regards to his productivity. I think that the factor of machinery definitely plays a part, but I still believe a laborer can strive to increase the productive powers of his labor to a certain extent as well. I, however, would like everyone to think about this: Maybe, if there are increasingly low wages, maybe the worker should prove that he deserves a higher wage by working extra hard, and showing he is worth the extra money. I bring this up because this is actually what I did at my work and I ended up making more than anyone else in the business. |
| If a laborer's wages have dropped so low that they decide to put less effort into their work, chances are they may be able to get a higher wage somewhere else. This all depends on if the market is competitive, and also if other workers in the same market are doing the same thing or not. Hans discusses Unions, which is a perfect example of something like this, and unions obviously work. This is due to all of the workers working together to gain a better wage contract. Jeff's theory does seem to make the most sense, because if all the workers do agree to decrease their productivity, chances are the capitalist will give in and increase the wages. Eventually they will need more labor than they are getting. |
| Hans: Interesting observation: when the worker slows down due to insufficient wages, this sends the message to the capitalist that the worker knows he or she can get a higher wage elsewhere. |
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