During the industrial revolution, people thought that all these new machines and factories and electricity meant that everyone would only have to work 4 hours a week since it made everyone so much more productive.

That's not what happened, though. Everyone worked the same amount for the same pay, just in more miserable repetitive working conditions, while the factory owners kept all profits from the gains in productivity.

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leonidasrup 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

" The central argument of Capital is that the motivating force of capitalism is in the exploitation of labour, whose unpaid work is the ultimate source of surplus value and profit. "

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Kapital

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AuthAuth 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Marx's labour theory of value is only a theory of where profits come from and is largely rejected. Return on captial investment is not restricted to factory owners. All workers get a share of the surplus value and have the option to increase that by investing.

	▲	pixl97 4 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Sounds like you found a new way to write... "The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread."

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WalterBright 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Old soviet joke:

Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under socialism, it's the other way around!

Myself, I always exploited my employers by extracting money from them.

	▲	bitwize an hour ago \| parent [-]
		I learned to hate corpo jobs less by thinking of them as "farming gold out of a megacorp". Of course I'm losing my ability to do even that, as sloppotrons beat half-century-old grognards every damn time.

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WalterBright 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Nope. The working week reduced hours.

Those factories were not producing luxury goods. They produced everyday items for the masses. Things like knives, spoons, tools, textiles, ketchup bottles, shoes, furniture, nails, bicycles, etc.

Standard Oil, for example, improved efficiency and reduced the consumer price of kerosene 70%.

There's no evidence of outsized profits.

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d3dd 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

"while the factory owners kept all profits from the gains in productivity."

Because this is what drives continual risk-capital.. very few countries are willing to upset this. Get over it man - I hate hardended capitalists but stop crying. This is the system we have. Wanna beat it? Go ahead and start a firm. Then you'll find out how tough it is.

The thing I cant get over is enough software engineering folks collectively hold immense power. Whats wrong with you lot (im not a software engineer)? Get your sht together.

P.s. Im starting a firm who's central mission is to attack capitalists (ofc I won't say it out loud in that way). I will find out for myself how much of a backbone software engineers etc have when I employ them.

	▲	WalterBright 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> I will find out for myself how much of a backbone software engineers etc have when I employ them. You're in for a rude awakening.