Workingmen's

Workingmen's

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

The Power of Labor (Reflections)

There were many gaps in my ideas that this class has helped fill, shifting and building to my understanding of the economic world. Mainly, in my understanding of Labor in relation to power and domination. This reminded me of Bolosan, because he came to different ways of understanding the economic world at large through his specific experiences with the world. For this class, we were able to get a glimpse into the lives of immigrants, who have in many ways, been forced to migrate due to Capitalist exploitation.

This has been something that has been very difficult for me to express because the banal rhetoric of progressive is so pervasive. The supposed Post-Colonial moment has encoded hierarchies of domination in more structural ways today. It can be especially difficult for the proletariat who must work day after day, without the time to grapple with such ideas or even organize in any way.

I remember talking to a woman who had gone to Egypt during the uprisings a few years ago. She said that those she spoke to could not imagine such drastic changes in regards to economic justice. One cab driver said that if it continued, there would be fewer vacationers, resulting in less money flowing in. He said that he would not be able to feed his family for the rest of the week if something like that were to happen. This goes to show how First World nations have monopolized labor around the globe.

This class has truly helped me to understand why solidarity is so important. Every individual has goals and works from their place in society, as if making life a game of chance. Labor moves people and we must continue to see how we are all workers within much larger structures.

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