Theses on Work

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Where once, man saw his own self reflected in the products of his blood, sweat and tears, where he saw an extension of his own existence, an existence that belonged to him, he now sees the property of someone other than himself, the property of another who lords over him, his life and his labor. Where once his work brought him fulfillment and contentedness, it now brings him nothing but stress, sickness and resentment. 

2

Work is like a vampire; it drains you of all your blood, all your energy, and slowly, over the course of years, it turns you into its thrall, a life turned death, a slave.

3

Work, under capitalism, is the coerced expenditure of energy in the name of the zealous philosophy of never ending production and expansion that defines the capitalist era.

4

Through his work, the proletarian builds his own physical, emotional and psychological prison. He builds the prisons which will house him if he goes against the dogma of work; he builds the offices where his work is exploited, where he is told where to sit, when to eat, when use the bathroom, when take a break, what to wear, how to speak; he builds the schools where his children are lined up like cattle, packed into clustered rooms, where they must listen, obey, sit when told to sit, stand when told to stand, speak when told to speak, all to form a brutal intellectual monopoly on knowledge and truth; he manufactures the clubs and shields that are used to beat strikers and protestors, the rifles and handguns that are used in the never ending slaughter of people of color and the poor. He writes the articles and manages the websites that propagate capitalist ideology, the very force which “justifies” his position in society. And, on top of all that, he must ensure his own existence; he builds his own house, and he builds the capitalist’s house. He makes his own food, and he makes the capitalist’s food. He is a slave to the capitalist. But, for this exact reason, he is the only one who can truly free himself, for true, material, productive power lies in his hands, and his hands alone.

5

In order for humanity to be free, labor must be emancipated, the chains that bind it must be broken. The products of labor must be held collectively by the whole of society, and each must be free to add to them and access them; no one must be excluded.