I don't know whether I am more angry or disguested at this article I just read.

[eric922]

The article is called Unpaid jobs: The new normal? This just proves my theory that the end goal of capitalism is to reduce us to some new form feudalism. Here is a quote so you know what to expect ""People who work for free are far hungrier than anybody who has a salary, so they're going to outperform, they're going to try to please, they're going to be creative," says Kelly Fallis, chief executive of Remote Stylist." Absolutely disgusting, here is the full article: http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/03/25/unpaid-jobs-the-new-normal/

[Jimmie Higgins]

The article is called Unpaid jobs: The new normal? This just proves my theory that the end goal of capitalism is to reduce us to some new form feudalism. Here is a quote so you know what to expect ""People who work for free are far hungrier than anybody who has a salary, so they're going to outperform, they're going to try to please, they're going to be creative," says Kelly Fallis, chief executive of Remote Stylist." Absolutely disgusting, here is the full article: http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/03/25/unpaid-jobs-the-new-normal/

Man, what a terrible article. I don't think unpaid labor could become the main form of labor in capitalism, it's sort of a side-effect of the system, not a fundamental feature of capitalism. When conditions favor the employers, they are just going to take advantage and that's what's happening here with these companies. Essentially I think this is the result of a larger shift in the economy - having a highly skilled working class is not as important for the ruling class as it was in the post WWII era, but the infrastructure is still largely in place to develop a specialized and skilled workforce (public schools and relatively cheap higher education). But now it's not as important for the ruling class, they now need to reduce our wages and living standards to recoup falling profits. The result is a lot of people who went to school and trained for specialized skills and fields but a contraction in the economy meaning that they are not really needed. Because of that some people are willing or able to work for free in hopes of getting jobs out of it... many more will just have their hopes crushed and go into service jobs or other work.

It's sort of the flip-side of when tech-jobs were paying huge inflated salaries to people right out of college in the 1990s. Back then capitalist apologists used that "side-effect" to say, look how well the system works: work hard, find a niche, innovate, and retire at 30 as a millionaire from stocks when the start-up dot-com you work for goes public. Well a few people did make a lot of money but most didn't and those still working in the same field are probably making a fraction (or working for free) of what they made 12 years ago.

But I think the more general trend in capitalism that this unpaid jobs thing is one symptom of is that capital is trying to squeeze as much out of people for as little as possible right now. Their profits have been declining and so the way to make up for that is to increase the rate of exploitation: reduce production by reducing the number of workers but have those few workers doing more and then you can decrease costs while increasing the amount of profit you can get from your smaller overall revenues. IMO working an unpaid job is sort of "voluntary serfdom" since most people who do this are able to do it simply because they can still live at their parents house or have a partner who can support their costs of living (like the worker in the article above). For them it's a trade-off but people who are not in a position to make that sacrifice, they simply have to get any job they can to pay bills even if they are specially trained or skilled or have high degrees.

I think the real modern serfdom is more like the credit card debts or education or health debts that people have now. So many people are basically working huge hours of their work week to pay off banks and credit... they should cut out the middleman... "I can't pay my credit card bill... do you think I could pay it off by being an indentured servant for two years?"

[gestalt]

The unpaid internship is another example of this within the peculiar institution that is modern capitalism. Owners are able to extract the full value of a good or service produced all under the guise of experience or future employment.

Stumbled upon this article (http://internsanonymous.co.uk/2010/11/17/wwmd-what-would-marx-do) a few months ago and a blog I read to keep tabs on the progressive spectrum in mainstream politics devotes some humorous commentary (http://www.ginandtacos.com/2010/12/08/interns-built-the-pyramids/) to the subject on occasion (http://www.ginandtacos.com/2010/04/15/no-riff-raff/).

[Agent Ducky]

What's appalling to me is that the article recognizes that this is akin to serfdom and just accepts that. There is nothing close to outrage that people are becoming serfs expressed there. Don't the capitalists generally argue in favor of "freedom"?

[eric922]

What's appalling to me is that the article recognizes that this is akin to serfdom and just accepts that. There is nothing close to outrage that people are becoming serfs expressed there. Don't the capitalists generally argue in favor of "freedom"? Well to be fair, there is outrage in the comment section. Personally I think whoever said this has the right idea: "you call this LIVING?! and we as Americans are supposed to be OK with this?!! i'm ready for the next revolution."

[28350]

my analysis of the article's subject
the technological-imperialist revolution of the capitalist mode of production streamlined the relations of production. this allowed for the further diversification of the productive forces, which resulted in a further specialization of the working class. this increasing specialization and decreasing organic composition of capital serves to divide the working class to the point where you have to "work for free". capitalism has advanced exploitation so far that surplus labor-time extends until it becomes immediately visible (even in capitalist discourse) that labor-time is not what is being paid for, but rather labor-power.

it probably won't make sense
i'm pretty high

[Robespierre Richard]

But wait, Dr. Von Hayek told me that the road to serfdom comes from socialist policies!

[Amphictyonis]

But wait, Dr. Von Hayek told me that the road to serfdom comes from socialist policies!

Dr Paul confirms this diagnosis. Dr Dre tells me everything will be fine if I just smoke some indo. I want to be a doctor.

9Lge2_H_8IQ

[Gorilla]

Bad sign for capitalism that it's starting to atavize and spontaneously spin out feudal social formations.

[agnixie]

Bad sign for capitalism that it's starting to atavize and spontaneously spin out feudal social formations.
Or they're testing waters to see how much further they can go. Push just hard enough that the people won't revolt and pray it doesn't accumulate. Sad thing, really, that prayers rarely get answered.

[Rusty Shackleford]

unpaid internships have been around for a while.

what sucks is that interns have to sign a contract acknowledging that they wont be paid for any work. it is free 100% exploited labor. but you get paid in the abstract; experience. experience doesnt pay bills or fill bellys though.

also, having an unpaid intern strike would fail without support from the rest of the office workers. why? because asking for pay is explicitly against the contract so they could be legally fired en masse.

[rallycat]

also, having an unpaid intern strike would fail without support from the rest of the office workers. why? because asking for pay is explicitly against the contract so they could be legally fired en masse.

And good luck organising an intern strike to begin with - it's such a temporary thing, and so aspirational that very few would see the point in striking if they're just going to ruin their potential prospect of paid work a few months down the line.