We are homeschooling our youngest, Davin, and he is watching the Crash Course educational videos on Youtube. I’ve watched some of them with him. We watched an economics lesson a few days ago and they talked about how industrialization and capitalism led to an economy based on wage labor. This is how most of us work today. We exchange our services for a wage. Socialists decry the hierarchical structure and argue that wage laborers are little better than slaves. Capitalists argue that it is a voluntary exchange and is a normal part of a market economy. There is a 3rd argument from the libertarian, anarchist perspective that I find interesting.
I first read this 3rd viewpoint in Lysander Spooner’s writings. Spooner advocates the ideal that the worker should be directly invested in his company by owning a stake in it. The capital should be owned by the workers, not parceled out from on high via wages. There is a strong tradition of left leaning anarchists who argue that all forms of power structures stand opposed to human freedom, and that wage labor is a key component of this problem. This could also be called socialist anarchism. I can see their point, and to the extent that the government props up large corporations, I agree with them. Government policies and regulations often favor large corporations by creating barriers to entry and stifling competition. I argue that this has led to our oligarchic economic system, where collusion between corporations and government is the standard. There is a well documented revolving door between big business executives and government regulators. America is a controlled economy which leads to a power based hierarchy, where wealth is consolidated in the hands of a few. On the other hand, I don’t think this completely undermines the case for wage labor. I see great economic benefit in the division of labor, and wages are a convenient way to reward the labor that is the most valuable. I’ve earned wages my entire working life, and I voluntarily agree to be paid in wages. That wasn’t necessarily true during the industrial revolution, and it isn’t true for many hard working laborers today. However, given the assumption that the labor arrangement is voluntary, then I don’t have problem with it. That addresses part of Spooner’s argument, but there is another, deeper argument, that I connect with on a more fundamental level. I have, at various points in my career, felt disconnected from my work.
Here is where I swing back into the left-anarchist camp. There is something empowering and freeing about working for yourself, and directly seeing how the product of your labor improves the world around you. I have sat in front of a computer for almost 20 years. I enjoy it. I earn a good living. It is not fulfilling. It is not a purpose. It’s a job. Most of my career I’ve worked for some of the largest companies in America, Gannett newspapers, HP computers, and Anthem health care. I’ve played a role in helping these companies to be successful, but I’m essentially a cog in an enormous machine. My place on the organizational chart is a blip somewhere between the middle manager and the entry-level worker. I do a great job, but I’m not truly invested in my work. I don’t get to know the people I help. I don’t directly see how my work improves the world. I earn money to help me do the things that I truly enjoy, and it’s the things I truly enjoy that then allow me to connect with the world.
I have many hobbies. I love music and the way it communicates with a deep part of our humanity. I love to read and to write. I have been changed by other’s words. I’d love to change others with my words. That would be fulfilling. I garden. The 1/3rd of an acre I can call my own (mostly my own, since I pay rent to the government) is covered in fruit trees, berry bushes, and garden beds, not to mention the chickens and bee hives. The honey from our beehives is better than anything I’ve tasted at any grocery store. The tomatoes sweeter. These are real, tangible things. I can eat the lettuce from my garden. I can sustainably provide naturally grown blueberries and raw honey, free of the chemicals that saturate most of our food supply. This connects me with the earth and with its resources, as well as connecting me to the people who consume the food I grow. Through farming and beekeeping I can practice agorism, and deliver a real product to real people. There is no power structure wielding authority over my life and my decisions. I am in control of my destiny. I am connected to people and to the world around me. This is what left-anarchists mean when they talk about wage labor stifling choices and enslaving the worker. Owning all of the products of your labor is empowering. This is what I want. This is what I need. This is freedom.