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I'm going to take a wild guess and say if you work at Coinbase—voluntarily—you're extremely well paid. You're the farthest thing from a victim. Just because you

I'm going to take a wild guess and say if you work at Coinbase—voluntarily—you're extremely well paid. You're the farthest thing from a victim. Just because you can't raise your fist and scream at your coworkers doesn't mean you're oppressed.

woodruffw 5y ago
This is the kind of parallel argumentation that tech workers (and their managers) make against unionization ("you're too well paid to need a union"). It misses the point -- they don't need to be "oppressed" to be justified in talking about politics at work, the same way they don't need to be underpaid to be justified in unionizing. Each is a perfectly sufficient end in itself.
malermeister 5y ago
Just because you're part of what is called "Labor aristocracy" in Marxist discourse doesn't mean you can't recognize the exploitation inherent to the system. You don't need to be on the losing side of an unjust system to recognize the system as unjust.
- rglover 5y ago
  So quit.
  - malermeister 5y ago
    Sounds like the entire argument went way over your head. Quitting doesn't change anything about the inherently exploitative relationship of labor and capital.
  - rglover 5y ago
    I'm not allowed to reply to you directly but responding to your response to "so quit," okay, go live on a commune then. Live your values and demonstrate to the world why your way of life is better.
    - malermeister 5y ago
      Living on a commune is giving up. The current order must be overthrown, everything else is just implicitly endorsing exploitation.
ohazi 5y ago
Capital vs. Labor is an attitude that can be completely divorced from the unit economics of how much people are paid. Capital is the owner class that calls the shots, Labor is the people who do the work. "Shut up and do the work, or GTFO" is a statement that only Capital can make, and it's a statement that can only be directed at Labor. When the topic being quelled is a conversation about fairness within the ranks of Labor, and between Capital and Labor, the picture is crystal clear: "Capital says no, and you (Labor) will comply."
jimbob45 5y ago
Right but we’re having this conversation using CoinBase as a symbol of all the companies that may follow.

woodruffw 5y ago

This is the kind of parallel argumentation that tech workers (and their managers) make against unionization ("you're too well paid to need a union"). It misses the point -- they don't need to be "oppressed" to be justified in talking about politics at work, the same way they don't need to be underpaid to be justified in unionizing. Each is a perfectly sufficient end in itself.

malermeister 5y ago

Just because you're part of what is called "Labor aristocracy" in Marxist discourse doesn't mean you can't recognize the exploitation inherent to the system. You don't need to be on the losing side of an unjust system to recognize the system as unjust.

rglover 5y ago
So quit.
- malermeister 5y ago
  Sounds like the entire argument went way over your head. Quitting doesn't change anything about the inherently exploitative relationship of labor and capital.
- rglover 5y ago
  I'm not allowed to reply to you directly but responding to your response to "so quit," okay, go live on a commune then. Live your values and demonstrate to the world why your way of life is better.
  - malermeister 5y ago
    Living on a commune is giving up. The current order must be overthrown, everything else is just implicitly endorsing exploitation.

ohazi 5y ago

Capital vs. Labor is an attitude that can be completely divorced from the unit economics of how much people are paid. Capital is the owner class that calls the shots, Labor is the people who do the work. "Shut up and do the work, or GTFO" is a statement that only Capital can make, and it's a statement that can only be directed at Labor. When the topic being quelled is a conversation about fairness within the ranks of Labor, and between Capital and Labor, the picture is crystal clear: "Capital says no, and you (Labor) will comply."

jimbob45 5y ago

Right but we’re having this conversation using CoinBase as a symbol of all the companies that may follow.