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Employment is, by definition, exploitation. If the objective of the company is to profit, it has to pay the employee less than the value he generates. The alter

Employment is, by definition, exploitation. If the objective of the company is to profit, it has to pay the employee less than the value he generates. The alternative is profiting out of non-internalized costs (e.g., exploiting natural resources).

chii 13y ago
there are other forms of organization out there - a non-profit, "cooperative" organization could and should be the norm. This form of organization means that everyone in the org is an owner, and is paid according to the work they do. There is no fat cat at the top that don't do work but takes in money. I believe in brazil there is a manufacturing company that is like this - each worker gets a slice of the profit.
- walshemj 13y ago
  Sorry worker coops are all about making money but distributing it in a more equitable way with the workers controlling the company. John Lewis makes a profit and the "partners" got 17% of salary as a bonus in FY12/13
- GFischer 13y ago
  Here in Uruguay, we have lots of "cooperatives" (our country has a long socialist story), most work out well, but they come across many of the same problems that faced the old Soviet Union, and you do get "fat cats" at the top regardless of the supposed equality system. http://uruguayeduca.edu.uy/Userfiles/P0001/File/Cooperativismo%20en%20Uruguay.pdf http://uruguayeduca.edu.uy/Userfiles/P0001/File/Cooperativis... We have: - Transport cooperatives - Dairy products cooperative (Conaprole) - Healthcare cooperatives, which serve most of the population ("Mutualistas", based on Mutualism) - An Insurance cooperative - Credit Union cooperatives - Housing cooperatives (those are the ones that worked out for the worst) In many cases, they compete with non-cooperatives. Edit: while they should be equal, even if they get same or slightly better pay, cooperative directors have lots of actual power, which can be turned to money if they so desire (kickbacks, etc...)
ckannan90 13y ago
Not really. Employment is a trade of resources like any other. According to what you say, the employee is "exploiting" the employer as well, because he is trading his time and effort (which he values less) for money (which he values more). The trade works because both sides have opposite notions of value in the two things (time/effort vs wages). Besides, the value an employee generates does not come from the employee himself (if it did, he could do the same task outside of a company and earn money). His effort is channeled through several other resources, including the efforts of other employees, capital and machinery, all of which was acquired and managed by the company. The company profits because the overall value generated by this system is larger than the sum of the value generated by any individual part. This isn't exploitation "by definition".

chii 13y ago

there are other forms of organization out there - a non-profit, "cooperative" organization could and should be the norm. This form of organization means that everyone in the org is an owner, and is paid according to the work they do. There is no fat cat at the top that don't do work but takes in money. I believe in brazil there is a manufacturing company that is like this - each worker gets a slice of the profit.

walshemj 13y ago
Sorry worker coops are all about making money but distributing it in a more equitable way with the workers controlling the company. John Lewis makes a profit and the "partners" got 17% of salary as a bonus in FY12/13
GFischer 13y ago
Here in Uruguay, we have lots of "cooperatives" (our country has a long socialist story), most work out well, but they come across many of the same problems that faced the old Soviet Union, and you do get "fat cats" at the top regardless of the supposed equality system. http://uruguayeduca.edu.uy/Userfiles/P0001/File/Cooperativismo%20en%20Uruguay.pdf http://uruguayeduca.edu.uy/Userfiles/P0001/File/Cooperativis... We have: - Transport cooperatives - Dairy products cooperative (Conaprole) - Healthcare cooperatives, which serve most of the population ("Mutualistas", based on Mutualism) - An Insurance cooperative - Credit Union cooperatives - Housing cooperatives (those are the ones that worked out for the worst) In many cases, they compete with non-cooperatives. Edit: while they should be equal, even if they get same or slightly better pay, cooperative directors have lots of actual power, which can be turned to money if they so desire (kickbacks, etc...)

ckannan90 13y ago

Not really. Employment is a trade of resources like any other. According to what you say, the employee is "exploiting" the employer as well, because he is trading his time and effort (which he values less) for money (which he values more). The trade works because both sides have opposite notions of value in the two things (time/effort vs wages). Besides, the value an employee generates does not come from the employee himself (if it did, he could do the same task outside of a company and earn money). His effort is channeled through several other resources, including the efforts of other employees, capital and machinery, all of which was acquired and managed by the company. The company profits because the overall value generated by this system is larger than the sum of the value generated by any individual part. This isn't exploitation "by definition".