this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2023
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Work Reform
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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.
Our Philosophies:
- All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
- Income inequality is the main cause of lower living standards.
- Workers must join together and fight back for what is rightfully theirs.
- We must not be divided and conquered. Workers gain the most when they focus on unifying issues.
Our Goals
- Higher wages for underpaid workers.
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- Better and fewer working hours.
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You're forgetting that it's not like we go to Rowling's house to get her books, or even download the manuscript P2P from her personal server.
Someone's exploited labor printed the folio, bound it, packed it, shipped it, stocked it, advertised it, sold it to you and put it into a bag...
And more, cut down the trees to make the paper, mixed the ink, delivered the reams and the vats to the factory...
And here's the problem I have with that: not all labor is exploitative. No matter what economy we have, there would still be laborers printing the book, binding it, cutting down the trees and making the paper, etc.
Even if they're not making an even split of company profits, some worker somewhere is happy with what they're getting.
And regardless of economy, some worker will be unhappy working somewhere, feel they're not getting their fair share, etc.
That doesn't change simply because we switch from capitalism to some other system.
The only fair way for that book to be made from the implications given is if all of the labor is automated, but at the end of the day a human being would have to do some work somewhere no matter how many levels of automation redundancy you have, so how is he not implying being expected to do anything is the problem, and using the blatant shitty behavior of the rich as a smokescreen for that?
We could live in a Jetsonian paradise where all he'd have to do is push a few buttons once a day and he'd still complain.
I have done things that are hard work for less compensation than it deserves and been happy to give it freely (ie charity, volunteering), but that doesn't mean we can't examine the power structure, even if the plurality of people are happy inside it.
I know. That's what I'm doing, critically examining these claims people keep making. I really don't have a stake in the game either way.
But it's not the author exploiting publishing companies. It's the execs of those companies exploiting their own workers. The publishing companies make excellent money (and same for paper creators, etc). Just it disproportionately goes to execs and possibly shareholders, not workers.
of course you can slice it any way you like. I'm not saying no one should be an author, but I am saying billionaires aren't made without exploitation somewhere