All wage labor is exploited regardless of wage level

Evidence

Class exploitation is not tied to low wages, has nothing to do with the indiscriminate mistreatment of some workers, and cannot simplistically be attributed to the immorality of employers. Morality is irrelevant; the crucial point lies elsewhere. All wage labor, even if it pays well, is by definition exploited labor because, counterintuitively, we as workers produce more value than we receive in our paychecks. “Exploitation” is a term that captures the essence of the wage relationship between worker and employer. The slogan “A fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work” is a hoax. It is not enough to increase wages and obtain better working conditions to free oneself from exploitation. — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 98

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines exploitation structurally as wage relationship where workers produce more than they receive — not tied to low pay or employer immorality.
• XREF: connects to: Exploitation is intrinsic to wage labor regardless of pay level or employer morality. — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism: An Intervention, 98; Capitalist-worker exchange is formally equal but substantively unequal — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1365; Domestic labor is unwaged exploitation essential to reproducing capital — Grant Bollmer, Katherine Guinness, The Influencer Factory: A Marxist…, 123 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Exploitation is intrinsic to wage labor regardless of pay level or employer morality. #corroborates (1.00) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 98
• Capitalist-worker exchange is formally equal but substantively unequal #expands (0.85) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1365
• All capitalist growth rests on a gap between wages and value created #corroborates (0.85) — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, 1137
• Domestic labor is unwaged exploitation essential to reproducing capital #expands (0.75) — Grant Bollmer, Katherine Guinness, The Influencer Factory, 123
• Capitalist profit also depends on unpaid domestic labor #expands (0.75) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 106