There's a famous Charlie Chaplin scene in which his employers put him in an eating machine to make his meal-time more efficient. Sound familiar? Yeah, the scene has its origins in what Marx describes as the need for capitalists to control workers' time for the sake of as much productivity as possible. Why would they do that? So as not to be out-competed by other capitalists—a drive Karl Marx depicts in detail in Das Kapital.
Marx shows how time—even just moments—was the element of profit in the 19th century, when European capitalists' brutal control over time actually shortened workers' lives. But moments are still the elements of profit today, although the ways of controlling these moments have changed in many places.
Questions About Time
- What's the length of your working day? How long are you or your friends expected to work? Discuss differences in vacation days, holidays, sick days, break times, and when work starts and ends. Can you change the length of your working day, and if so, how?
- Marx says capitalists will shorten the length of the working day only when pressured by society to do so. Is this still true? Do business owners today believe that happier, better-rested employees mean higher profit? Consider your job or the jobs of your friends or family.
- How do employers control time to increase workers' productivity? Consider what managers look for in employees, or how workplaces are organized. What would Marx say?
Chew on This
Employers still control workers' time as much as possible in order to maximize efficiency and profit.
Social changes have caused employers to back down from controlling workers' time as much they used to.