this post was submitted on 13 Apr 2025
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How do you define exploitation in the modern day? (hexbear.net)
submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by Cimbazarov@hexbear.net to c/marxism@hexbear.net
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Talking more about how we in the imperial core are exploited, rather than how imperialism exploits other countries' resources, labour etc. I'm trying to find a satisfying explanation for why "well-paid" workers are also exploited.

From my understanding of Marx, exploitation happens in capitalism by the worker producing more value than what they are paid. This is evident by the profit these companies make, as it wouldn't exist if their workers were not exploited. But I find it awkward to try to get this across to people not well versed in theory. You have job types like office workers that don't really produce anything and only contribute to the companies bottom line indirectly. I get that theres unproductive and productive labor, but this is also alot to explain to someone who is not deep into economics.

This also got me thinking that exploitation is broader than just underpaying workers. There's also psychological and physical abuse at the workplace that I feel has some connection to exploitation. The fact that the employer can threaten you with firing, or cutting some benefit also seems like exploitation to me.

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[–] Terrarium@hexbear.net 4 points 1 week ago

Let's say your example is a Microsoft programmer. They work on a software product that Microsoft sells and they are paid $200k per year. Even at that high wage, Microsoft is pocketing their surplus labor value, otherwise they wouldn't have profits. When companies are so large and have so much income, the exploitation in raw value can actually be even higher than that of a low wage worker. The Microsoft programmer just doesn't feel the pain as much because their labor value is scarce and hard to replace and so they are paid better.

The rest of capitalist relations still exist there as well. Microsoft wants to pay their programmers less. This is why they promote STEM education, bootcamps, etc. They want a large number of unemployed programmers competing for that job so they can drive wages down.

The Marxist concept of exploitation does not imply that all workers are impoverished. The labor aristocracy was already a thing in Marx's time. But it does mean that there is a tendency to drive down wages, i.e. increase exploitation to maximize profit. So over time, in a closed system (e.g. the global working class), wages are driven down.