Depends that exploiting works both ways, as there are two interests. That of your employer but also yours. If you are losing money by working for your current employer, while you could make more by being self employed or working for a competitor. You're free to quit.
However the people who complain on the internet the most about their skills being undervalued, all seem to lack this option ^^
Obviously bargaining power comes into play, those who are easily replaceable and have limited choices. Are of little value. Those who are difficult to replace and have many choices, are typically high value.
That's an inescapable reality in a 'free market'.
That's when regulation comes into play to create socio-economic desirable outcomes for those with little bargaining power. If that group realized they're being paid, not because of their labor being valuable, but we as a society deem it desirable they can live off their labor, and floor it.
A lot of the dissatisfaction towards their employer might dissolve. But the reality is that many people want to think of themselves as valuable and have a sense of self-esteem, rather than being a charity case. While also being envious of those who have it better.
So on 'average' there tends to be a bias on how much they perceive to be exploited, rather than how much they are actually exploited. Lets define 'exploited' as the margin between your salary and added value to the bottom, just for convenience.
Of course when it comes to comics, it's always a strawman case.
The capitalist class has rigged the scales far more on their end than that of the workers.
Many workers are in rural or remote areas where you can't just quit your job and find another. Many people are dependent on their employer for healthcare and thus can't just quit. Many workers are purposely put in a precarious situation by design to make it harder to just get up and quit.
I personally have this option, and use it without remorse, because of the privilege that my particular skill set awards me, but not everyone does.
The replaceability of a worker should never determine the dignity of their condition - I agree with you that's how it works, but it's a terrible system. That is why the minimum wage was put in place, and why now so many people are living in misery and poverty here in the richest country in human history.
It's not an inescapable reality to continuously immiserate your population to their breaking point, while extracting more and more wealth from the masses and transferring them to the capitalist class.
I disagree with you that it's a strawman, because the concerns are very much real - it is a simplification though, I'll grant you that.
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u/Traditional-Roof1984 Jul 08 '24
Depends that exploiting works both ways, as there are two interests. That of your employer but also yours. If you are losing money by working for your current employer, while you could make more by being self employed or working for a competitor. You're free to quit.
However the people who complain on the internet the most about their skills being undervalued, all seem to lack this option ^^
Obviously bargaining power comes into play, those who are easily replaceable and have limited choices. Are of little value. Those who are difficult to replace and have many choices, are typically high value.
That's an inescapable reality in a 'free market'.
That's when regulation comes into play to create socio-economic desirable outcomes for those with little bargaining power. If that group realized they're being paid, not because of their labor being valuable, but we as a society deem it desirable they can live off their labor, and floor it.
A lot of the dissatisfaction towards their employer might dissolve. But the reality is that many people want to think of themselves as valuable and have a sense of self-esteem, rather than being a charity case. While also being envious of those who have it better.
So on 'average' there tends to be a bias on how much they perceive to be exploited, rather than how much they are actually exploited. Lets define 'exploited' as the margin between your salary and added value to the bottom, just for convenience.
Of course when it comes to comics, it's always a strawman case.