The Socialist Critique of the 'Wage Slave'
A speaker at Internal Hall argues that the 'Profit System' is the source of modern poverty and calls for a new industrial order.
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The open meeting March 3rd in Internal Hall was well attended. Bro. Van Lear spoke on 'The New Order of Things' or 'Production for Use.' In his analysis of the present economic system he drew a parallel between the serf of medieval ages, the negro slave before the war and the wage slave of today. The wage slave of today is but a cog in the wheel of industry; when this human cog plays out, he is thrown on the scrap heap and a new slave takes his place. 'There are three political parties in the United States: Democratic, Republican and Socialist. The issue of the Democratic party, 'Bust the Trusts,' is suicidal. The issue of the Republican party is the 'Profit System,' founded on the law of force. The issue of the Socialist party is production for use, founded on the law of love. The producers of this world are determined that poverty must be abolished, but they realize that only through education, organization and the installation of a correct system of production can this be accomplished. Under production for use human life will become valuable, more so than all the dirty gold of this world.'
“The wage slave of today is but a cog in the wheel of industry; when this human cog plays out, he is thrown on the scrap heap and a new slave takes his place.”
This 1911 sermon on the 'wage slave' and industrial precarity resonates sharply with today's debates regarding the gig economy and wealth inequality in Everett, where the tension between corporate profit and the dignity of the local worker remains a central civic friction point.
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