I Haven’t Felt My Hands in Years

Abstract

The previous chapter focused on the role of literacy and schooling in creating “cultural division in a capitalist society”; this chapter focuses upon the role of labor and jobs. Beginning with an ethnographic description of work in a factory in eastern Kentucky, the chapter explores lower-tier jobs as a source of damage and limitation for workers, and poses the question of whether such jobs are inevitable in an industrial society. In answering that question, the chapter offers a primer on the political economy of capitalism and exploitation; contrasts low-quality jobs with professional, high-quality jobs; and discusses real-world alternatives to capitalism. The conclusion is that damaging jobs are mostly a side-effect of the ownership architecture of capitalism; they are not an unavoidable feature of industrial society.