Workers’ only exercise of voluntary disposition is choosing to work or starve

Evidence

For Dewey, democracy is, in essence, “… a mode of conjoint com­ municative experience . . which . . repudiates the principle of external authority … in favor of voluntary disposition and interest.” In this sense, the dominant forms of work for which the educational system prepares youth are profoundly antidemocratic. Under capitalism, work is character­ ized not by conjoint, but by hierarchical “communicative experience,” and rigid patterns of dominance and subordinacy, where personal interaction is dictated primarily by rules of procedure set by employers: Dewey’s “volun­ tary disposition” of the worker extends only over the decision to work or starve. — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America, 552

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The compressed final line—voluntary disposition reduced to choosing work or starvation—is a sharp, unforgettable encapsulation of labor coercion under capitalism.
• XREF: connects to: Workers’ only meaningful choice under capitalism is to work or starve. — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America:…, 552

Broader Connections

• Workers’ only meaningful choice under capitalism is to work or starve. #corroborates (1.00) — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America, 552