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Happy Labor Day!
by The Anti-Social Socialist
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally published Sept. 12, 2018
September 7, 2020
“Capitalism keeps us in a state of panic. Most of us are just one medical bill away from bankruptcy. It keeps us overworked and underpaid so we don’t have time to question its dominance over our lives. It takes the fruits produced by the many and gives them to the few. Concentrated wealth means concentrated power, concentrated power means less democracy, less democracy means less freedom, and less freedom means you are reduced to a precarious life of servitude.” — The Anti-Social Socialist
The Anti-Social Socialist on Sep 10, 2018
From the archives:
Part 3: Freedom from Socioeconomic Oppression, by W.R. Zammichiéli
Plutocracy V: Subterranean Fire (must-see)
Albert Einstein: Why Socialism?
The Brief Origins of May Day by Eric Chase
Howard Zinn: Hidden History of The American Working Class
Definitions: The Proletariat by Gaither Stewart
What is Wage Slavery? by The Anti-Social Socialist
What Might A Cooperative Economy Look Like? by Pete Dolack
Gar Alperovitz: The Promise and Limitations of Worker Co-ops
Dandelion Salad 
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There was an assertion in the video that Credit Unions are not allowed to make commercial loans to worker-owned cooperatives. Can someone verify this? Where is that statute or regulation? (I find myself saying ‘show me the statute’ way too often these days as people make legal claims!)
This explanation is inadequate in the same fashion that I have heard from too many Marxists:
“The condition of your employment operates on the assumption that you will work for less than what you are worth.”
The implication is that the worker’s labor is worth the full selling price of the product, and the employer — who owns the tools and the workplace — deserves nothing from the sale of the product. This argument will not be convincing to someone who grew up in a society where property ownership is sacrosanct.
I would give greater emphasis to this fact: The market increases inequality, so the worker has essentially no chance of rising to become a capitalist. The lower position of the worker is not anything like an apprenticeship.
https://leftymathprof.wordpress.com/trade-increases-inequality/
I think the point here is that the employer/employee relationship is INHERENTLY exploitative, in that it would be impossible for the owner to compensate the laborer with the full amount of their value-add to the process, as then there would be no profits left to enrich the owners. (there would be plenty to keep the company running and even growing, just no ‘sit on your ass’ income for the owners.
I think that to teach this stuff, we need to call non-labor/non-wage revenue just that: ‘sit on your ass income’. This is revenue from capital gains, interest earned, rent, licensing, and any revenue you’re making while sitting on the toilet having a BM. I think there are far too many people who think that wealthy people actually work for a living, when nothing could be further from the truth. Most gained their wealth the old-fashioned way – they inherited it. This ‘goal’ of having sufficient ‘sit on your ass’ income to never have to work is held up as the pinnacle of success – this is what needs to change. This should be properly painted as being a PARASITE living off of the exploitation of the labor of other people.
Yes, but my point is, that would apply to ALL kinds of income from ownership. For instance, landlords. (For instance, my wife is interested in renting out our spare bedroom, but I told her I don’t want to be a landlord.) Anyone who believes in property, must also believe in the right to derive some income from renting out that property. Personally, I would like to see all property replaced with sharing, but I readily admit that I cannot imagine the details of how that would work, so I am only able to envision my utopia very vaguely.. Our lives have been based on property for 10,000 years.