Why are we OK with being disrespected?
I've been thinking a lot lately about how little the bosses/capitalists respect the working class.
It seems like (at least here in the USA) workers' rights, which were already not great to begin with, are getting even worse. Even something as basic as getting Thanksgiving (which is tomorrow 🦃) off isn't guaranteed. Our work culture is pushing more and more towards constant connectivity and an expectation of being "always on"; essentially, of prioritizing the capitalists' needs over ones own.
Why are we OK with this? Why isn't there more pushback from workers?
Ultimately, this is the result of consistent erosion of workers' power in the employee-employer relationship, which has been effected through years of concentration of wealth and power in the hands of the capitalists. The USA's slavish devotion to the free market, combined with an extremely effective campaign to discredit and demonize unions, have led to a working class that largely doesn't buy into the idea of collective action. These erosions cause a feedback loop - every time our power diminishes, it becomes that much harder to regain it, and that much easier for the ruling class to stay in power.
I'm not quite sure where I'm going with this. It's distressing to see this trend, but it's doubly distressing because my industry (computing and software) is leading the charge in dismantling our rights as workers. For all its blustering as the most "progressive" industry, the technology world is just like every other one when the rubber meets the road. Sure, some details are different, and it's true that we do have it better than most other workers, but the system is the same, and the leaders of this industry are great at surreptitiously eroding workers' rights. The scary thing: they're getting bolder. They used to hide behind things like free meals, fancy offices with masseuses and electric scooters, and paying their employees very well. But now they're out in the open: orchestrating mass layoffs, wasting immeasurable resources on boondoggles like "AI", and removing any pretense at trying to make things that are useful for the world. My industry is heading this effort up, and that feels bad.