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We need to talk about the myth that under capitalism, all risk is assumed by investors/capital.
We need to talk about the investments workers make everyday. Their health, their time, their money (commuting, work clothing and equipment, education), and their reputations.
In our world of limited liability corporations, creditor protections, and tax incentives for investment, capital protects itself. Weighted risk is also a thing. Capitalists invest SOME of their dollars. Workers invest their ONLY selves. The risk is not equal.
Workers are the last in line to get paid, if a business goes under. And for marginalized workers, the risks are even higher.
The consistent answer is "Workers can get another job." But in the era of automation, credential creep, outsourcing, "right"-sizing, and wage deflation, labour simply is not as mobile as capital.
Workers also invest opportunity cost. An investor has multiple income streams, as well as time to develop further streams or invest in themselves (education, social/cultural clout). Every hour spent at work is an hour that a worker could be putting into themselves.
And with all this, it is shareholders/ownership that holds all the power to mitigate risk. Workers have no control over the direction, reputation, or administration of their employers. Companies are only answerable to capital.
We have numerous mechanisms to make investors whole, or close to it, in a case of loss. Meanwhile, we tighten the screws on workers' comp, and increase the thresholds for provable harm. We demand that workers invest in lawyers, should they need compensation for employment harm.
And again, the risk is not equal! A worker injured at work loses more than a portion of their current income. Workers' comp insists on every effort to rejoin the labour pool. This may mean abandoning years of education and effort to enter an entirely new field.
It may mean selling a home at a loss, to move "where the jobs are". It may mean family break-up. And you can't write much of this off on your taxes, should you be fortunate enough to maintain a taxable income.
The myth of risk is one of the most durable and ridiculous myths that we continue to believe. It's at the heart of income and wealth inequality. It's nonsense.
*Addendum! Let's also talk about the fact that workers, as tax payers (and disproportionate tax payers!) bear the costs for government subsidies and for environmental mitigation, in the case of harmful industries. Workers stuck in toxic places pay to clean them up!
And pay the emotional, financial and physical costs of that environmental harm! They may lose kids, lose spouses, get sick themselves. And pay for that. Again and again.
