Wednesday, April 11, 2012
4/11/12
What do we consider property? Is it land, or maybe a car, or even your children? When we first discovered America, we claimed this land as our property because we were here first. By claiming ownership, you are claiming something is yours, usually by the labor that you put in to get it. That's why when your mother or father says "that's my child" technically they have every right to say that because they put in the work to make you, cloth you, and put a roof over your head. Money is a main exchange of ownership, you work for the money and for the exchange of that hard work you can get something of equal value, seams fair right? You labored for the money, making it yours, now if you see something you want then you can exchange that hard work for anything you want that is to equal value. We used work to survive, but now we work to get nice things and to keep up with always changing trends.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think that the last sentence of this post - "We used work to survive, but now we work to get nice things and to keep up with always changing trends" - is worth taking another look at. The unfortunate fact is that in capitalist society, we still do work to live. Those who, whether through choice or necessity, do not or cannot work have little to no safety net; they typically either exist at the edge of society, often attempting to ignore their miserable situation with the help of alcohol or other substances, or simply die of starvation, exposure, or as victims of violence from others in similar desperate circumstances. The conception of working to get nice things is very much an upper-and-middle-class idea, and is also ultimately untrue in a capitalist society.
ReplyDeleteIf this idea were actually true, then the society would not be capitalist, but would instead be closer to a form of socialism. Actual socialism usually appears to provide slightly more than the bare minimum for continued existence, but this varies depending upon the country in which it exists. In a truly socialist society, work would actually be an option. If someone chose not to work, they would have a very Spartan lifestyle, but they would not die or end up living an absolutely miserable life. If they wished to enhance their quality of life (for example, by purchasing a musical instrument), they could then enter the workforce in order to gain money to fulfil that purpose.
P.S. I also posted this on my blog if you'd rather read it there.