Capitalism is theft!

Some of the things capitalism steals from the working-class EVERY👏SINGLE👏DAY👏:
• Equitable wages
• A fair say in the decisions that affect their lives
• A sustainable environment
• Dignity
• Time
• A stress & anxiety-free life

Thread 1/26
In a capitalist economy, labor is bought & sold on a market system, and, like all market-based prices, wages (price of labor) is a function of the relative bargaining power between buyers (employers) & sellers (employees).

How wages *really* work: 2/26 https://twitter.com/ArashKolahi/status/1210332075787608065
The problem with having wages as a function of the relative bargaining power between workers & their employers is that 'relative bargaining power' is inherently & by-definition inequitable.

Here's why: 3/26
Equity means:
• Not being rewarded or punished for things we have no control over
• And for things that we do have control over, the benefits & burdens be fairly distributed 4/26 https://twitter.com/ArashKolahi/status/1146165768356270086
While we do have control over how long we work, how hard we work, & much effort & sacrifice we expend at our jobs – capitalism doesn't reward any of those!

Instead, capitalism rewards bargaining power – something that *precludes* workers from receiving an equitable wage. 5/26
Studies show if wages had increased at the same rate as productivity, most workers in the US would be earning approx 3 times their current wage.

Others show that if the min wage had kept pace with inflation & standard of living, the min wage would be over $20 an hour today. 6/26
These studies are important because they show just have much bargaining power workers have lost in the US after 50 years of one-sided class war against the working class. 7/26
But what these studies fail to ask & answer is: what if wages were NOT based on inequitable bargaining power, but instead were inherently fair & equitable?

Our reference point shouldn't be some random point in history that was also inequitable - just less so than today. 8/26
The real reference point between today's grossly unjust wages shouldn't be yesterday's grossly unjust wages.

Instead, the real reference point should be between today's grossly unjust wages and what fair & equitable wages would be. 9/26
In this thread, we demonstrate an analysis that if wages were equitable, the average worker, working the average duration at an average effort, would receive the average income of approx $130,000 per year (based on 2018 US Gross Domestic Income). 10/26 https://twitter.com/ArashKolahi/status/1230953222375763969
So, the difference between fair & equitable wages and what workers actually receive as a result of capitalism's rewarding of bargaining power is *systemic theft* inherent to capitalism.

Capitalism robs the working-class of fair & equitable wages. 11/26
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