“Work as a metaphysical act, the very “act of being” must be distinguished from labor; work as a remunerative economic invention must be distinguished from subsistence.” WorkLaborWork EthicActWage SlaveryWage Slave Book:The Invention of Work Source: The Invention of Work
“Work, thence identified as consistent, indefinite and systematic remunerative labor, foists its demands upon the employee and not the employer.” WorkEmploymentWork EthicEmployeesWage SlaveryWage Labor Book:The Invention of Work Source: The Invention of Work
“While Europe appears to maintain more reticence embracing it, in America there is no question that work can only be discussed as a secular sacrament, with all the indignity one might expect from such a degrading genus. The Protestant qualifier to Protestant work ethic long ago dissipated, leaving the peculiarly American artifact of viewing one’s wages as a moral reward, one’s continuous employment as a state of grace and one’s retirement as an earthly paradise merited by one’s good works.” WorkRetirementWork EthicAmerican CultureWage SlaveryProtestant Work Ethic Book:The Invention of Work Source: The Invention of Work
“Employers conversely view the work of their employees, and the employees themselves, as a thing that belongs to them as a personal possession. This extends beyond some notion that workers have sold their labor or their “time” to the employer. Employers in practice completely own a worker during a designated period of work, and measure this ownership according to time. This is why time is managed and not the quantity or quality of tasks completed. The manner by which time is managed is similar to inventory management. When a worker fails to offer himself up for the designated hours, even despite the possibility of circumstances outside his control, the worker is expected to “make up” the time lost, much like reparations paid to an employer for stolen goods. Employers handle “lost hours” as part of loss prevention for physical products. The worker’s skills, ignobly called “human capital,” comports to an employer’s existing technologies for this reason: workers themselves become capital, and capital supports other capital through modification.” EmploymentTime ManagementWorkplaceWork Life BalanceEmployeesWage SlaveryWage Labor Book:The Invention of Work Source: The Invention of Work