Rakhmetov
18th January 2011, 21:24
Douglass relates in his slave narrative an incident that reminds one of the modern capitalist wage-slave system
From chapter XI
In the early part of the year 1838, I became quite
restless. I could see no reason why I should, at the
end of each week, pour the reward of my toil into
the purse of my master. When I carried to him my
weekly wages, he would, after counting the money,
look me in the face with a robber-like fierceness,
and ask, "Is this all?" He was satisfied with nothing
less than the last cent. He would, however, when I
made him six dollars, sometimes give me six cents,
to encourage me. It had the opposite effect. I re-
garded it as a sort of admission of my right to the
whole. The fact that he gave me any part of my
wages was proof, to my mind, that he believed me
entitled to the whole of them. I always felt worse
for having received any thing; for I feared that the
giving me a few cents would ease his conscience,
and make him feel himself to be a pretty honorable
sort of robber. My discontent grew upon me. I was
ever on the look-out for means of escape; and, find-
ing no direct means, I determined to try to hire my
time, with a view of getting money with which to
make my escape.
http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/DouNarr.html
Excerpt From Dr. Michael Parenti's Democracy for The Few 7th Edition
Hard work seldom makes anyone rich. The secret to wealth is to have others work hard for you. This explains why workers who spend their lives toiling in factories or offices retire with little or no wealth to speak of, while the stockholding owners of these businesses, who do not work in them and usually have never visited them, can amass considerable fortunes.
Workers endure an exploitation of their labor as certainly as do slaves and serfs. The slave or serf obviously toils for the enrichment of the master and receives only a bare subsistence. (James Madison [father of the U.S. constitution and 4th President] told a visitor shortly after the American Revolution that he made $257 a year on every slave he owned and spent only $12 or $13 for the slave's keep.) Sharecroppers who must give a third or half their crop to the landowner are obviously exploited. Under capitalism, however, the portion taken from the worker is not visible. Workers are simply paid substantially less than the value they create. Indeed, the only reason they are hired is to make money from their labor. If wages did represent the total value created by labor (after expenses and improvements), there would be no surplus value, no profits for the owner, no great fortunes for those who do not labor.
The greatest source of individual wealth is inheritance. If you are not rich, it is probably because you lacked the foresight to pick the right parents at birth. Studies show that rags-to-riches is a rare exception. Most people die in the class to which they were born. A large
majority of the self-made Forbes 400 superrich inherited fortunes or received crucial start-up capital from a family member.
While corporations are often called "producers," the truth is they produce nothing. They are organizational devices for the exploitation of labor and accumulation of capital. The real producers are those who apply their brawn, brains, and talents to the creation of goods and services. The primacy of labor was noted 140 years ago by President Lincoln in a message to congress: "Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor and could not have existed had not labor first existed. Labor is the superior of capital and deserves much the higher consideration." Lincoln's words went unheeded. The dominance of the moneyed class over labor remains the essence of the U.S. sconomic system.
Workers' wages represent only a portion of the wealth created by their labor. The unpaid portion is pocketed by the owners. Today, a private-sector employee is likely to work two hours for herself or himself (the value created and paid back in wages) and six or more hours for the boss (the value realized and pocketed by owners after expenses). The latter portion is what Marx described as "surplus value," the source of the owner's wealth. Capitalists themselves have a similar concept: "value added in manufacture." For example, in 1995, management estimated that the average General Motors autoworker added $150,000 to the value of products for which he or she was paid $38,000, or one-fourth of the value created. Workers employed by Intel and Exxon received only about one-ninth of the value they created, and in industries such as tobacco and pharmaceuticals, the worker's share was a mere one-twentieth of the value added. Between 1954 and 1994, the overall average rate of value added (the portion going to the owner) in the United States increased from 162 percent to 425 percent, far above the exploitation rate in other Western industrialized countries.
Dr. Michael Parenti Democracy For The Few 7th Edition
From chapter XI
In the early part of the year 1838, I became quite
restless. I could see no reason why I should, at the
end of each week, pour the reward of my toil into
the purse of my master. When I carried to him my
weekly wages, he would, after counting the money,
look me in the face with a robber-like fierceness,
and ask, "Is this all?" He was satisfied with nothing
less than the last cent. He would, however, when I
made him six dollars, sometimes give me six cents,
to encourage me. It had the opposite effect. I re-
garded it as a sort of admission of my right to the
whole. The fact that he gave me any part of my
wages was proof, to my mind, that he believed me
entitled to the whole of them. I always felt worse
for having received any thing; for I feared that the
giving me a few cents would ease his conscience,
and make him feel himself to be a pretty honorable
sort of robber. My discontent grew upon me. I was
ever on the look-out for means of escape; and, find-
ing no direct means, I determined to try to hire my
time, with a view of getting money with which to
make my escape.
http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/DouNarr.html
Excerpt From Dr. Michael Parenti's Democracy for The Few 7th Edition
Hard work seldom makes anyone rich. The secret to wealth is to have others work hard for you. This explains why workers who spend their lives toiling in factories or offices retire with little or no wealth to speak of, while the stockholding owners of these businesses, who do not work in them and usually have never visited them, can amass considerable fortunes.
Workers endure an exploitation of their labor as certainly as do slaves and serfs. The slave or serf obviously toils for the enrichment of the master and receives only a bare subsistence. (James Madison [father of the U.S. constitution and 4th President] told a visitor shortly after the American Revolution that he made $257 a year on every slave he owned and spent only $12 or $13 for the slave's keep.) Sharecroppers who must give a third or half their crop to the landowner are obviously exploited. Under capitalism, however, the portion taken from the worker is not visible. Workers are simply paid substantially less than the value they create. Indeed, the only reason they are hired is to make money from their labor. If wages did represent the total value created by labor (after expenses and improvements), there would be no surplus value, no profits for the owner, no great fortunes for those who do not labor.
The greatest source of individual wealth is inheritance. If you are not rich, it is probably because you lacked the foresight to pick the right parents at birth. Studies show that rags-to-riches is a rare exception. Most people die in the class to which they were born. A large
majority of the self-made Forbes 400 superrich inherited fortunes or received crucial start-up capital from a family member.
While corporations are often called "producers," the truth is they produce nothing. They are organizational devices for the exploitation of labor and accumulation of capital. The real producers are those who apply their brawn, brains, and talents to the creation of goods and services. The primacy of labor was noted 140 years ago by President Lincoln in a message to congress: "Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor and could not have existed had not labor first existed. Labor is the superior of capital and deserves much the higher consideration." Lincoln's words went unheeded. The dominance of the moneyed class over labor remains the essence of the U.S. sconomic system.
Workers' wages represent only a portion of the wealth created by their labor. The unpaid portion is pocketed by the owners. Today, a private-sector employee is likely to work two hours for herself or himself (the value created and paid back in wages) and six or more hours for the boss (the value realized and pocketed by owners after expenses). The latter portion is what Marx described as "surplus value," the source of the owner's wealth. Capitalists themselves have a similar concept: "value added in manufacture." For example, in 1995, management estimated that the average General Motors autoworker added $150,000 to the value of products for which he or she was paid $38,000, or one-fourth of the value created. Workers employed by Intel and Exxon received only about one-ninth of the value they created, and in industries such as tobacco and pharmaceuticals, the worker's share was a mere one-twentieth of the value added. Between 1954 and 1994, the overall average rate of value added (the portion going to the owner) in the United States increased from 162 percent to 425 percent, far above the exploitation rate in other Western industrialized countries.
Dr. Michael Parenti Democracy For The Few 7th Edition