Labor Day Reflections: Work Systems and Economic Production Logic

Tomorrow marks the arrival of International Labor Day on May 1st. This holiday originated from the large-scale strike by workers in Chicago, USA, on May 1, 1886, demanding an 8-hour workday.

Every time this season comes around, we always see some liberal viewpoints in the field of economics advocating for the abolition of labor laws and the implementation of a completely free hiring system.

It is worth noting that economic theories have never been neutral. Although economists and opinion leaders may try to disguise their positions, as long as they express their opinions, the underlying positions will ultimately be revealed.

The positions of these proponents of liberal economic views generally tend to side with business owners or capitalists. In the words of literary masters, they can be seen as "the lapdogs of capitalists."

As described in classic literature: "Every lackey, though it may be raised by a capitalist, actually belongs to all capitalists, so it is tame when it meets all the broad people, and barks wildly when it meets all the poor people." I don't know who its master is, which is the reason why it meets all the broad people who are tame, that is, the evidence that belongs to all capitalists. Even if there is no one to feed him, and he is hungry and lean, and he has become a wild dog, he still meets all the good people who are tame, and all the poor people bark wildly, but then he does not understand who the master is. "

The argument that links the 5-day, 8-hour work system to trade wars or even armed conflicts is, in fact, completely erroneous. Historical facts are exactly the opposite; it was excessive overtime and overproduction that prompted capitalists to seek to expand overseas markets, which led to the global colonial wars of the 17th to 19th centuries.

Human production activities can be briefly divided into three development stages:

The first stage is self-sufficient production. People produce the goods they need to meet their basic needs without participating in any competition.

The second stage is demand-oriented production. For example, a pancake maker who is renowned for their exceptional skills will expand their production scale as long as there is market demand, until the demand is saturated.

The third stage is profit-driven production. At this point, producers have become the stewards of multinational corporations, no longer concerned with whether the products are truly consumed; as long as they can profit, they will continue or even expand production. When the market becomes saturated, they will employ various means to stimulate consumption, including forcefully opening up markets, lobbying legislative bodies to create favorable regulations, squeezing out competitors, and even funding academic research to promote the advantages of their products.

There are three obvious patterns in this development process:

1. Profit-driven production inevitably leads to overproduction and supply surplus that disregard actual demand.

2. The financial credit system will accelerate the process of overproduction.

Thirdly, it is the overproduction of the third stage that has triggered trade conflicts, wars, and the expansion of imperialism.

The third stage is a typical "capitalist mode of production".

In this mode, capitalists behave similarly to speculators chasing hot spots, quickly pouring in and expanding production wherever there are high profits.

The final result is often market saturation, with severe oversupply, and most investments ultimately going to zero.

Those who have held Bitcoin have a deeper understanding: truly valuable things are often strictly limited, and scarcity creates value.

Blindly expanding production is like blindly chasing hot investments; on the surface, it seems that wealth is within reach, but in reality, it rapidly depreciates due to oversupply.

The behavior of capitalists producing for profit is essentially no different from blind speculation.

Both are negative-sum games and a form of involution competition. The negative-sum involution of the capitalist mode of production is manifested in the universally accepted phenomenon of overproduction in mainstream economic theory—produced goods that cannot be sold, ultimately leading to losses.

What is the key difference between the second stage and the third stage of production methods?

The answer is that the motivation for production has shifted from "for the people" to "for money".

Before the second phase, production activities are still human-centered.

In the third stage, production has completely become money-centered.

This is exactly the embodiment of that classic philosophical question: Is man an end in himself or a means to an end?

The clear answer given by the capitalist mode of production is: man is merely a means to realize profit.

Therefore, money has transformed from a tool that satisfies human needs into the ruler of humanity.

Humans have become tools for the appreciation of money, reduced to cheap labor.

The situation of people as laborers is sometimes even worse than that of actual draft animals.

After all, true laborers do not have to pay for food and accommodation, while workers need to support themselves, pay rent, repay mortgages, entertain themselves, take care of themselves, overdraw their health, and work overtime, all just to create more profits for their employers.

What capitalists fear the most is that workers refuse to overwork. Because once everyone refuses to overwork, the source of profit for capitalists will decrease.

Therefore, the financial freedom of workers is a threat to capitalists.

If everyone achieves financial freedom, who would still accept exploitative work?

Therefore, the financial freedom ideology that promotes the idea that everyone can live off profit like a capitalist without working is likely just an intellectual tax or a harvesting tool.

The purpose of teaching methods for becoming wealthy is usually not to make the audience rich, but to make the instructor rich.

This is the logic of reality.

A reasonable model of financial freedom might be: work for ten years, enjoy freedom for a lifetime.

If productivity is higher, it may even be: work for a year, be free for a lifetime?

How can ordinary workers break through difficulties in the current historical stage?

The key is to understand reality more deeply.

The world is cyclical.

The value deprived by capitalists, you need to find it back from the other end.

Gain a deeper understanding of the logic of capitalists and capitalist production, with the aim of helping readers think about issues from a higher perspective.

Since the shrewd calculations of capitalists ultimately resemble blind speculation, how should wise individuals respond to such a zero-sum game?

Is it about joining the competitive rat race?

If you are confident that you can win in the competition, then participating and taking risks is not a problem.

Or you are a market manipulator, then your goal is to harvest others.

But for ordinary people, a wiser choice might be to take advantage of the weaknesses of overproduction, overissuance, and capital frenzy by holding those truly scarce assets:

Bitcoin ( BTC ).

It can be summed up in one sentence: surplus value will ultimately be reflected in the most scarce assets.

Hold scarce assets and enjoy the well-deserved rest on Labor Day.