Anti Wage-Slavery, Pro-Freedom Quotations Of The Week 978-980

Americans like to think that a fair day’s work brings a fair day’s pay. Cheating workers of their wages may seem like a problem of 19th-century sweatshops. But it’s back and taking a terrible toll. We’re talking billions of dollars in wages; millions of workers affected each year. A gigantic heist is being perpetrated against working people: they’re getting screwed on overtime, denied their tips, shortchanged on benefits, defrauded on payroll, and handed paychecks that bounce like rubber balls. A conservative estimate of unpaid overtime alone shows that it costs workers at least $19 billion per year.

The laws protecting workers are grossly inadequate, and wage thieves go unpunished. For giant companies like Walmart, Citigroup and UPS, getting fined is just the cost of doing business. You could even say that they're incentivized to cheat because punishment is so unlikely, and when it happens, so light.
By Lynn Stuart Parramore
AlterNet
When Your Boss Steals Your Wages: The Invisible Epidemic That’s Sweeping America
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Ireland is trying to cut working class wages enough to out-compete Italy, but Italy is trying to cut working class wages to out-compete Spain, which is trying to out-compete Portugal, which is trying to out-compete Greece, which is trying to cut wages to out-compete Turkey.
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When I criticized the “Road to Bangladesh” strategy, the conservative economists I was appearing with rushed to praise Bangladesh as the model for successful economic growth through exceptionally low wages.  They responded that if Portugal was in fact on the Road to Bangladesh it was actually on the road to success.
By William K. Black
New Economic Perspectives
AlterNet
Why Economic Criminals View Bangladesh as a Model for Workers Everywhere
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Advice: #1. If you truly believe in freedom, for a satisfying future, get rid of your job as soon as you can. True freedom is doing what you want to do with your time, spending as little as possible doing what others decide you should do. That's the best reason to avoid a life of crime. And having a job is a lot like being a convicted criminal (or a slave), others decide how your time will be spent.
#2. We all have needs that require things, food, shelter, clothing. But avoid acquiring things that are not needs, or tools to help you live the life you choose. The acquisition of things by shopping should be maximally minimized. It usually takes time to get the money to buy things, and more time to maintain them. Be very thrifty with your time, consider and conserve it carefully, it is the most (only) precious asset you have.
#3. Spend your time wildly on those endeavors which satisfy you and make you happy
tomdoff
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Slaves to Our Stuff: A Creative Vision to Break Away From Consumer Culture's Destructive Grip
AlterNet / By Sabrina Artel