Normal Business Functioning - Exploitation
On today's edition of Normal Business Functioning (an examination of the normal workings of the Capitalist framework of business) we are going to discuss exploitation, the driving force of Capitalism.
(As a note to myself, future things I want to discuss include the rewards and opportunities based on class position and the debt/stress/spending cycle).
Exploitation is a bit of a loaded word, used with disgust by most of the revolutionaries who say it, and completely disregarded by others.
I would like to use this phrase, but I want to use it in as mechanical a way as possible.
To do so, I want to define what I mean by exploitation is precise terms.
What is exploitation? While the word is used with disgust by revolutionaries, exploitation is a synonym for the use or utilization of something.
Thus, to exploit is simply to use someone or something to achieve desired purposes.
When you use a screwdriver to unscrew a screw, you are exploiting that screwdriver (and for that matter, you've been exploiting that screw).
The consistent use (or exploitation) of someone or something for a specific purpose makes the assumption that this is their intended use.
So, we have two additional questions we must ask about exploitation in the capitalist framework.
First, should people be used at all? Second, what is the defined purpose of the use of an individual in a capitalist framework (and what problems or benefits does it prevent)? Is it okay to "exploit?" Let me give my answer, then my justification (if I were just trying to convince you I would start with the justification, but as it is, I want you to remain skeptical).
My answer is: Yes.
I believe that it is our nature to use each other for the benefits we can offer, and that this is only logical, and when used correctly, beneficial.
I use my friends for the emotional support that they provide.
I use my family for the loving atmosphere that they create.
I use my theater buddies to put on good productions.
I use new acquaintances in the area to network, find fun events, and have people to fulfill my basic social needs.
This can even be extended to "I use attractive members of the opposite gender to fulfill interpersonal sexual desires," "I use people I dislike as a way of unleashing my aggression," "I use my teachers to gain new knowledge that is useful to me," and so on and so forth.
In the end, human interaction is exploitative.
We are using one another.
Constantly.
Is this wrong? Why, certainly not.
Not only do I appreciate the ability to use other people for things that I deem to be positive in my life, I really like being used.
I like feeling useful.
I like feeling that by exploiting me my friends, family, lovers, and members of my community are adding something positive to their own life.
To have a use is the same as to have a purpose.
To be exploited is to be used, and to be used is to fulfill that purpose.
Moving on, we must give further examination to the specific exploitation in the Capitalist framework.
How does worker exploitation function in Capitalism? Worker exploitation in capitalism is the phrase I will be using the describe what many revolutionaries site with disgust, but let's start from the bottom and work our way up, so we can decide if this sort of exploitation offers enough benefits to outweigh the negatives.
Worker exploitation starts with the function of Capital.
An average individual does not have the funds required to establish a business of any kind, and yet they require funds in order to make a living (buy food, you know, silly stuff like that).
So the Capitalist enters the picture, and they have the money to start a business.
They do so, and there is more than enough work for this budding entrepreneur to do.
In fact, there is so much work that can be done that the Capitalist can effectively "hire" someone else to do that work.
By hiring, what we mean is having someone else do the work in exchange for a "wage.
" A wage is simply the amount that the individual is paid for a task.
However, the completion of the task is only one part of the Capitalist exploitation of workers.
The other half is profit.
A worker is useless to the Capitalist unless they can generate "profit.
" In other words, what the worker is paid and what the worker costs in overhead and other expenses must be lower than what the worker earns for the company.
Thus, the worker fulfills the real purpose that the Capitalist desires: profit.
What are the benefits of the profit motive? The profit motive has some potential advantages.
First, the use of wage labor does allow an individual who would not otherwise have an opportunity for income to gain that opportunity.
Certainly, individuals need the chance to make the money required to succeed.
Second, the use of the profit motive in business drives entrepreneurs to be as creative as possible, using their desire for profit as a fuel to spark creativity, including the elimination of required labor hours through mediums like machines, software, and so forth.
It may well be that we have profit motive to thank for some of these inventions (see also: the industrial revolution ).
Third, the profit of the Capitalist allows that individual, who now has experience in establishing a successful business, to go on to create more businesses and thus more jobs (leading to more Capital, and more businesses, and more jobs, and more Capital).
Fourth, the profit motive encourages the Capitalist to take risks.
The potential return on their original investment may be high enough that long term investment in projects that can have significant impact could be worthwhile.
What are the disadvantages of the profit motive? One) The form of worker exploitation that is created by the profit motive simplifies an individual to a number.
Their "use" or "purpose" becomes making money for someone else.
They are merely the profit they make for the company, their opinions do not matter, and they can easily be disregarded.
They will be disregarded and cast aside if it is profitable for the company.
Individuals, who religions tell us have "infinite worth," can easily be equated to dollars and dimes.
If someone else can do your job for a lower price, they will receive the job and you will have to look elsewhere.
This means of relating to individuals removes their actual individuality and makes them a mechanical part of a business structure.
Two) Worker exploitation actually perpetuates (whether or not it is the original creator of) the framework which requires wage labor.
Individuals do need to work, yes, but since they are always being paid as little as they can feasibly be paid by the Capitalist, the opportunity to establish long term savings, investments, escape debt, and so on, are all diminished.
Thus, the Capitalist stays on the top gaining profit off those on the lower levels, while those on the lower levels struggle to get by while paying debt and their basic expenses - only rarely having the opportunity to escape their class position.
They do not have the wealth to gain the basic opportunities of education, or even a root level of psychological health, in order to progress.
Three) While creativity is motivated by the profit motive the creativity is all driven at increased profit, not increased quality.
The creative energies of these large groups with so many resources are driven toward creating items like Happy Meals: items that aren't good, good for you, or beneficial, but which will sell.
This has created a flood of items that don't benefit the lives of consumers but that consumers can be convinced to purchase - leading, it so happens, to further perpetuation of the class system where working class individuals remain at the bottom of the heap.
Four) The cyclic nature of the Capitalist gains creates a large and ever growing gap between the upper and lower class.
Those in the upper class invest money, don't have to take out loans, can reduce basic living expenses, and can make a profit through wage labor exploitation.
Those on the lower class never have these opportunities.
Thus, those on the top level will go higher and higher while those on the bottom level will go lower and lower (with, thankfully, a few things standing in the way - like minimum wage, unions, and so on).
Through inheritance, this cycle becomes essentially unending.
Five) While the Capitalist is able to take risks with their accumulated wealth, they themselves do not risk anything but wealth they have gained by using other individuals for their potential profit.
There is no personal risk, and in taking the risk, they use additional workers who's livelihood may well be on the line.
The risk of wealth is not an illusion, but it is also calculated - done in a way that is most likely to increase profits in the long term.
Summary: Benefits and Downfalls of Exploitation While wage labor exploitation does allow for the creation of jobs, the expansion of businesses, the generation of additional Capital, and an increased incentive for creativity and risk, the downfalls of the system must also be noted.
The risks and creativity are all driven toward profit rather than the benefit of society, the cyclic nature of capital gains creates a growing gap between the upper and lower (as well as middle) class, the need for wage labor enters into a self-stroking cycle where lower class individuals are disempowered, and worst of all, we have changed our definition of what a human is.
People are no longer who they are or what they offer.
They are the profit they can make the company.
The truly tragic thing is that the incentive for creativity and risk can be retained in other systems that do not fall into this pattern.
In a system like syndicalism individuals can increase their own personal gain by making improvements to the functioning of the company - but must take actual responsibility for the impact of those products on the market, as they are responsible for the actions of their company (see my last entry).
While still largely driven toward personal gain, the additional sense of ownership allows individuals to take pride in what they do and create products that they want to stand behind, thus diminishing the flood of useless products and increasing the focus on quality.
Syndicalism also prevents the Capitalist gain structure to become cyclic in nature by making sure all workers get a fair portion of what their work has earned and created.
As for the remaining issues - the creation of jobs and the availability of Capital - this can all be resolved through a socialist structure of Government.
Government issued business loans, Government sponsored education (including secondary education), and other social programs can create an egalitarian form of opportunity wherein the greatest level of societal functioning can be provided to all, regardless of what family they were born into.
(As a note to myself, future things I want to discuss include the rewards and opportunities based on class position and the debt/stress/spending cycle).
Exploitation is a bit of a loaded word, used with disgust by most of the revolutionaries who say it, and completely disregarded by others.
I would like to use this phrase, but I want to use it in as mechanical a way as possible.
To do so, I want to define what I mean by exploitation is precise terms.
What is exploitation? While the word is used with disgust by revolutionaries, exploitation is a synonym for the use or utilization of something.
Thus, to exploit is simply to use someone or something to achieve desired purposes.
When you use a screwdriver to unscrew a screw, you are exploiting that screwdriver (and for that matter, you've been exploiting that screw).
The consistent use (or exploitation) of someone or something for a specific purpose makes the assumption that this is their intended use.
So, we have two additional questions we must ask about exploitation in the capitalist framework.
First, should people be used at all? Second, what is the defined purpose of the use of an individual in a capitalist framework (and what problems or benefits does it prevent)? Is it okay to "exploit?" Let me give my answer, then my justification (if I were just trying to convince you I would start with the justification, but as it is, I want you to remain skeptical).
My answer is: Yes.
I believe that it is our nature to use each other for the benefits we can offer, and that this is only logical, and when used correctly, beneficial.
I use my friends for the emotional support that they provide.
I use my family for the loving atmosphere that they create.
I use my theater buddies to put on good productions.
I use new acquaintances in the area to network, find fun events, and have people to fulfill my basic social needs.
This can even be extended to "I use attractive members of the opposite gender to fulfill interpersonal sexual desires," "I use people I dislike as a way of unleashing my aggression," "I use my teachers to gain new knowledge that is useful to me," and so on and so forth.
In the end, human interaction is exploitative.
We are using one another.
Constantly.
Is this wrong? Why, certainly not.
Not only do I appreciate the ability to use other people for things that I deem to be positive in my life, I really like being used.
I like feeling useful.
I like feeling that by exploiting me my friends, family, lovers, and members of my community are adding something positive to their own life.
To have a use is the same as to have a purpose.
To be exploited is to be used, and to be used is to fulfill that purpose.
Moving on, we must give further examination to the specific exploitation in the Capitalist framework.
How does worker exploitation function in Capitalism? Worker exploitation in capitalism is the phrase I will be using the describe what many revolutionaries site with disgust, but let's start from the bottom and work our way up, so we can decide if this sort of exploitation offers enough benefits to outweigh the negatives.
Worker exploitation starts with the function of Capital.
An average individual does not have the funds required to establish a business of any kind, and yet they require funds in order to make a living (buy food, you know, silly stuff like that).
So the Capitalist enters the picture, and they have the money to start a business.
They do so, and there is more than enough work for this budding entrepreneur to do.
In fact, there is so much work that can be done that the Capitalist can effectively "hire" someone else to do that work.
By hiring, what we mean is having someone else do the work in exchange for a "wage.
" A wage is simply the amount that the individual is paid for a task.
However, the completion of the task is only one part of the Capitalist exploitation of workers.
The other half is profit.
A worker is useless to the Capitalist unless they can generate "profit.
" In other words, what the worker is paid and what the worker costs in overhead and other expenses must be lower than what the worker earns for the company.
Thus, the worker fulfills the real purpose that the Capitalist desires: profit.
What are the benefits of the profit motive? The profit motive has some potential advantages.
First, the use of wage labor does allow an individual who would not otherwise have an opportunity for income to gain that opportunity.
Certainly, individuals need the chance to make the money required to succeed.
Second, the use of the profit motive in business drives entrepreneurs to be as creative as possible, using their desire for profit as a fuel to spark creativity, including the elimination of required labor hours through mediums like machines, software, and so forth.
It may well be that we have profit motive to thank for some of these inventions (see also: the industrial revolution ).
Third, the profit of the Capitalist allows that individual, who now has experience in establishing a successful business, to go on to create more businesses and thus more jobs (leading to more Capital, and more businesses, and more jobs, and more Capital).
Fourth, the profit motive encourages the Capitalist to take risks.
The potential return on their original investment may be high enough that long term investment in projects that can have significant impact could be worthwhile.
What are the disadvantages of the profit motive? One) The form of worker exploitation that is created by the profit motive simplifies an individual to a number.
Their "use" or "purpose" becomes making money for someone else.
They are merely the profit they make for the company, their opinions do not matter, and they can easily be disregarded.
They will be disregarded and cast aside if it is profitable for the company.
Individuals, who religions tell us have "infinite worth," can easily be equated to dollars and dimes.
If someone else can do your job for a lower price, they will receive the job and you will have to look elsewhere.
This means of relating to individuals removes their actual individuality and makes them a mechanical part of a business structure.
Two) Worker exploitation actually perpetuates (whether or not it is the original creator of) the framework which requires wage labor.
Individuals do need to work, yes, but since they are always being paid as little as they can feasibly be paid by the Capitalist, the opportunity to establish long term savings, investments, escape debt, and so on, are all diminished.
Thus, the Capitalist stays on the top gaining profit off those on the lower levels, while those on the lower levels struggle to get by while paying debt and their basic expenses - only rarely having the opportunity to escape their class position.
They do not have the wealth to gain the basic opportunities of education, or even a root level of psychological health, in order to progress.
Three) While creativity is motivated by the profit motive the creativity is all driven at increased profit, not increased quality.
The creative energies of these large groups with so many resources are driven toward creating items like Happy Meals: items that aren't good, good for you, or beneficial, but which will sell.
This has created a flood of items that don't benefit the lives of consumers but that consumers can be convinced to purchase - leading, it so happens, to further perpetuation of the class system where working class individuals remain at the bottom of the heap.
Four) The cyclic nature of the Capitalist gains creates a large and ever growing gap between the upper and lower class.
Those in the upper class invest money, don't have to take out loans, can reduce basic living expenses, and can make a profit through wage labor exploitation.
Those on the lower class never have these opportunities.
Thus, those on the top level will go higher and higher while those on the bottom level will go lower and lower (with, thankfully, a few things standing in the way - like minimum wage, unions, and so on).
Through inheritance, this cycle becomes essentially unending.
Five) While the Capitalist is able to take risks with their accumulated wealth, they themselves do not risk anything but wealth they have gained by using other individuals for their potential profit.
There is no personal risk, and in taking the risk, they use additional workers who's livelihood may well be on the line.
The risk of wealth is not an illusion, but it is also calculated - done in a way that is most likely to increase profits in the long term.
Summary: Benefits and Downfalls of Exploitation While wage labor exploitation does allow for the creation of jobs, the expansion of businesses, the generation of additional Capital, and an increased incentive for creativity and risk, the downfalls of the system must also be noted.
The risks and creativity are all driven toward profit rather than the benefit of society, the cyclic nature of capital gains creates a growing gap between the upper and lower (as well as middle) class, the need for wage labor enters into a self-stroking cycle where lower class individuals are disempowered, and worst of all, we have changed our definition of what a human is.
People are no longer who they are or what they offer.
They are the profit they can make the company.
The truly tragic thing is that the incentive for creativity and risk can be retained in other systems that do not fall into this pattern.
In a system like syndicalism individuals can increase their own personal gain by making improvements to the functioning of the company - but must take actual responsibility for the impact of those products on the market, as they are responsible for the actions of their company (see my last entry).
While still largely driven toward personal gain, the additional sense of ownership allows individuals to take pride in what they do and create products that they want to stand behind, thus diminishing the flood of useless products and increasing the focus on quality.
Syndicalism also prevents the Capitalist gain structure to become cyclic in nature by making sure all workers get a fair portion of what their work has earned and created.
As for the remaining issues - the creation of jobs and the availability of Capital - this can all be resolved through a socialist structure of Government.
Government issued business loans, Government sponsored education (including secondary education), and other social programs can create an egalitarian form of opportunity wherein the greatest level of societal functioning can be provided to all, regardless of what family they were born into.
Source...