What dignity of labor?

One of the key slogans used by right wingers, whether Republican or Democratic, against programs like welfare, universal basic income, or Medicare for All is the supposed dignity of work, the notion that the rugged individual who breaks up virgin soil and rips out weeds to grow wealth earns nobility — despite the reality that soil without owners is increasingly rare, and in fact, the ground used by the pioneering heroes of yore was stolen from the peoples who owned it already. Anyone who points out that millions of Americans are out of work due to the pandemic or to increasing automation, in need of healthcare that is currently too expensive, or unable to participate in the stock market that sets barriers of minimum purchases is called lazy and commanded to get a job.

The truth is that Americans are not lazy. The people are instead beaten down by politicians and corporate executives who collude to rig the rules in their favor to transfer ever more wealth upward.

Doubt what I am saying? Consider the evidence. Productivity in the decades since the Second World War has increased steadily, but from the 1970s onward, wages have all but flattened out. Who is absorbing the benefits of greater productivity? Corporate executives. They have seen their compensation grow by 940% since 1978 and now make well over two hundred times what their ordinary employees take home. While unemployment…