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A Brief Note On The Union Of The United States And Great Britain

Decent Essays

Kobee Crown
Discussion Section: Gamble
10:00 AM
Analyzing Alienated Labor in Regards to Democracy
The strive to maximize profits causes firms to mass produce commodity goods, which forces workers to dedicate a large portion of their time to their labor. The efficiency of mass production is certainly questionable, as economists like Keynes predicted that, given the massive technological leaps that nations such as the United States and Great Britain were already making, the average work week would be reduced to between fifteen and twenty hours a week by the twenty-first century (Graeber, “Bullshit Jobs”). While it appears that the technological advancements Keynes expected came to fruition, the average work week currently sits around
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It is not a large stretch to assume that most of the sweatshop workers employed by Nike have never worn any of the items that they had a part in producing, which serves to create an effect of resentment, as those workers view Nike products as a reminder of their servitude and likely nothing more.
Like the product of one’s labor, the process of labor itself can also be a source of estrangement for workers in a capitalistic society. When workers have no influence on the circumstances surrounding their production, they can be treated as commodities. Those that are working in sweatshops are often doing so out of necessity, which gives firms control over laborers as they dominate the means of production and therefore have more leeway in regards to practices such as forcing workers to endure improper conditions or providing low wages. Firms like Nike can easily establish monopolies in the market for cheap labor in developing nations like Indonesia, eliminating the competition for wages along with any possibility of class ascendance. The result of this is the existence of laborers who are completely disconnected from the undertaking of their work, as it only serves as both a means of subsidence and a reminder of one’s reliance on the bourgeoisie. Naturally, the laborer will feel that the

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