In its simplest description the working class consists of all people who
apply labor to nature and thereby produce items that can be used for
human purposes. Within the dynamic functioning of a class society,
though, things become considerably more complex. Under capitalism the
working class consists of the people who apply labor to nature or to
commodities that have already had labor applied to them to produce
something of increased monetary value for which these producers receive
in compensation less than a hundred percent of the value they create.
That description is pretty simplistic too because under capitalism there
are multiple layers of privilege and subservience all interacting with
all other layers. Nevertheless, it is that productive function that is
key. One does not create wealth by buying and selling and variously
moving that wealth around, so those who do those kinds of manipulations
as a profession are excluded from being part of the working class.
On 8/26/2016 8:26 AM, Alice Dampman Humel wrote:
the subject line says it…as I read all these messages about the working class, I begin to suspect everyone has his/her own definition of it, and that, of course determines all the rest…
And, it also often seems that the definitions shift and drift depending on the particular point being made at any given time…
Thoughts?
