Morning Comrades.
Admittedly, my most recent deep-dive into “democracy” has sent me on a number of tangents, whenever I have the time, to think about not only why we, here in the “west” inherently think that democracy is synonymous with morally good, or ethically right but additionally, how “democratic” our lives actually are. Naturally, the reality of work came into play, not only as a material reality ( I am just coming off another long, arduous shift making food ) but also a metaphysical idea - and that is what I will spend some time on today.
To be clear, there are many different philosophical, economic, social and and political schools out there all debating the same underlying issues: Not only does the majority of work under capitalism fall into the category of “Bullshit Jobs”1 but the majority of work leaves us underpaid, unhappy and frustrated. I am not here to rate the various trains of thoughts along the lines of political ideology2 but to state something entirely obvious I believe but nonetheless, a point that rarely acts as the jump-off point for any and all discussions, and it bloody well needs to be.
Secondly, and whilst this should be obvious I will still state it as an important disclaimer: No, communism doesn’t mean no one wants to work and get everything for free. Irrespective of the fact that this elementary school anti-communist talking point is older than my gran, I still hear it regularly. As a person that aims to work towards a better tomorrow along the science of communism I know that here is heaps of work to be done, work that I enjoy and that needs to be done. My gripe, however, has always been and will most likely remain that way until I die, is that I don’t want to work a “Bullshit Job” to merely survive and in the process make someone I most likely don’t like rich and destroy the planet. The discussion of what value we place on what work is however another one, granted we all should have on the daily, but again, not what we are here for today.
Since the western world is once again enthralled with war in the name of democracy let’s chat about said democracy and the part of our lives that dominates the majority of our time, here in the oh-so-free and democratic “west”: work.
Work, as we practice it today is a means to an end: pay rent, bills, buy food - survive essentially. It dominates not only the majority of our waking time but additionally, the relationship we have with work and all it entails - bosses, co-workers, purposes and actions, dominate our time even beyond the time after clocking out. I am not sure how it works at your end but my “working” day does not end when I finish my job - there is reproductive ( unpaid ) care work to be done for the family, house work, feeding and clothing - fuck, I know you know, the shit doesn’t end. Nevertheless, nor do the texts, emails and more importantly thoughts about what you have done all day and need to be doing3 the following day, “your job” will truly dominate your waking hours, and sadly, your sleeping hours also.
If, then, we spend, or rather are forced to spend most, if not all our time in this dependent relationship how much say do we have about how we spend this time and what we get for it in this freest of all democratic realities?
Generalizing: Fuck All.
I am fully aware that the relationship nature of work has changed somewhat in the last 20 years but let’s be real: Your employment has about as much to do with “democracy” as the non-existing health and safety department at Mount Doom in Mordor. You are told where to be when, what to do, how to behave, how to speak and act at the constant threat of termination of your employment for a set price without any real power to make this relationship work on equal terms. Sure, worker unions exist for this reason and for all the real-life positive changes they have achieved in the last 150 years such as the Weekend, Child Labour laws and so forth the most important aspect of this reality has never been challenged here in the free, democratic “west”. At best, most if not all work relationships are draconian and totalitarian at worst, fuck, I don’t understand why most places at work aren’t being burnt to the ground at 12€’s an hour4 - that’s all any place of employment deserves at minimum wage.
The fact is, we spend the majority of our time in a brutally repressive, authoritarian relationship built upon sole rock of actual punishment in order to survive, and for the majority of us, that, in addition, means performing acts that are not only soul-destroying but quite literally in direct opposition to our existence5 Yet, this is accepted as "normal", "necessary" and "just how it is" and ever so rarely makes the kick off point of any discussion about work. No, it usually starts and ends with "Dave the Boss is an asshole and I don't like him", yet the potential for revolution not only starts at home, but in our existence under capitalism and thus, definitely at work.
Before we get into the discussion about what work is important, sustainable and how we value it - as in, how we all get paid for it - we need to start understanding that most, if not all, work relationships are anything but democratic, fair, safe and inherently ethical but the exact opposite. To reiterate my point, I am anything but anti-work, on the contrary, but we need to understand how insanely repressive and destructive “work” in the democratic west is, so that we can change it and then blow it all to hell. So that we can finally, before it is too late, actually do the work that is needed rather than the one we are forced to do in order to survive.
Food for thought. Thank you for tuning in, your attention and your support.
Yours, warmed by thoughts of Molotov cocktails and the work that needs to be one,
V.
A few more resources for you to dig into:
As so often, brilliantly put by the late David Graeber
That’s the type of academic masturbation best left to self-important twitter tropes
Again, the question always arises, for what?
That’s the new minimum wage here in Germany, that, after taxes, will leave you worse off than being on social welfare.
Endless, increasing consumption - production - consumption being at the heart of capitalism that is destroying our planet.