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Unemployment: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Soup Kitchen, Chicago.webp|thumb|During the great depression (1929-1939), unemployment was at an all time high. Structures such as this soup kitchen in Chicago were set up to deal with an ever growing mass of hungry unemployed workers.]]
[[File:Soup Kitchen, Chicago.webp|thumb|During the [[Great Depression]] (1929–1939), unemployment was at an all time high. Structures such as this soup kitchen in Chicago were set up to deal with an ever growing mass of hungry, unemployed workers.]]
'''Unemployment''' is the condition where an individual is seeking employment but cannot find work anywhere. Unemployment since the industrial revolution has served the purpose of providing the bourgeoisie with a reserve army of labour. This reserve can be quickly deployed to work in rapidly expanding markets, or, alternatively, it can be kept as a threat to employed workers, in order to maintain low wages.<ref>{{Citation|author=Karl Marx|year=1867|title=Capital Volume One|chapter=Chapter Twenty-Five: The General Law of Capitalist Accumulation|chapter-url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch25.htm#S3|section=Section 3}}</ref>
'''Unemployment''' is the condition of a [[Proletariat|worker]] seeking employment that cannot find work anywhere. Since the [[Industrial Revolution]], it has provided the [[bourgeoisie]] with a [[reserve army of labour]]. This reserve can be quickly deployed to work in rapidly expanding markets, or, alternatively, it can be kept as a threat to employed workers, in order to maintain low [[Wage|wages]].<ref>{{Citation|author=Karl Marx|year=1867|title=Capital Volume One|chapter=Chapter Twenty-Five: The General Law of Capitalist Accumulation|chapter-url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch25.htm#S3|section=Section 3}}</ref>
 
Unemployment is extremely rare in [[Socialist state|socialist countries]]. For example, the [[German Democratic Republic (1949–1990)|GDR]] guaranteed a job for everyone. Although some people refused to go to work, they cost the economy only 0.1% of scheduled work hours.<ref name=":05">{{Citation|author=Austin Murphy|year=2000|title=The Triumph of Evil|chapter=A Post-Mortem Comparison of Communist and Capitalist Societies Using the German Case as an Illustration|page=94|pdf=https://mltheory.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/austin-murphy-the-triumph-of-evil.pdf|city=Fucecchio|publisher=European Press Academic Publishing|isbn=8883980026}}</ref>


== References ==
== References ==
[[Category:Social issues]]

Latest revision as of 22:20, 17 November 2024

During the Great Depression (1929–1939), unemployment was at an all time high. Structures such as this soup kitchen in Chicago were set up to deal with an ever growing mass of hungry, unemployed workers.

Unemployment is the condition of a worker seeking employment that cannot find work anywhere. Since the Industrial Revolution, it has provided the bourgeoisie with a reserve army of labour. This reserve can be quickly deployed to work in rapidly expanding markets, or, alternatively, it can be kept as a threat to employed workers, in order to maintain low wages.[1]

Unemployment is extremely rare in socialist countries. For example, the GDR guaranteed a job for everyone. Although some people refused to go to work, they cost the economy only 0.1% of scheduled work hours.[2]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. Karl Marx (1867). Capital Volume One: 'Chapter Twenty-Five: The General Law of Capitalist Accumulation; Section 3'.
  2. Austin Murphy (2000). The Triumph of Evil: 'A Post-Mortem Comparison of Communist and Capitalist Societies Using the German Case as an Illustration' (p. 94). [PDF] Fucecchio: European Press Academic Publishing. ISBN 8883980026