Rethink Your Relationship With Work
How Our View Of Employment Is Holding Us Back
In contemporary society, work is often presented as a moral imperative—something that defines one's worth, determines social status, and gives meaning to life. This ethos is deeply ingrained in our cultural and economic systems, with an unspoken belief that hard work leads to prosperity and success. However, this idea is a construct that serves the interests of the capitalist system rather than the well-being of individuals. From a left-leaning, materialist perspective, the way work is structured and valued in society must be reconsidered, particularly in terms of the reward systems around loyalty, the promotion of the puritan work ethic, and the insidious “family” culture employers try to create in the workplace.
Loyalty: A One-Sided Bargain
In modern capitalism, loyalty in the workplace is often rewarded with promises of job security, advancement, or recognition. Employers expect unwavering loyalty from their employees, but these promises are rarely reciprocated in a meaningful way. Workers are asked to devote their time and energy to an organization, sometimes at the expense of their personal lives, health, and well-being. Yet, despite this devotion, the reality is that many workers face job insecurity, stagnant wages, and a lack of long-term benefits. In this environment, loyalty becomes a tool of exploitation, with workers being asked to give more without receiving equitable returns.
The problem is that this loyalty to a company is fundamentally unequal. It benefits the employer, whose goal is to maximize profit while minimizing labor costs, but it doesn’t serve the worker’s material interests. A worker’s loyalty is often seen as a form of "sacrifice" for the greater good of the company, yet this so-called greater good rarely translates into anything tangible for the worker. Employers can afford to overlook loyalty when it no longer serves their financial interests, frequently downsizing or outsourcing jobs without hesitation. The onus of loyalty, therefore, becomes a one-sided social contract, where the worker bears the burden without reaping the rewards.
The Puritan Work Ethic: A Tool of Oppression
The Puritan work ethic, a cornerstone of capitalist ideology, celebrates hard work as both a virtue and a moral obligation. This ideology promotes the idea that working long hours is not only necessary for financial success but also a path to spiritual and personal fulfillment. It exalts productivity and perseverance, framing work as a moral duty that defines one’s value in society. The modern manifestation of this work ethic is seen in the glorification of hustle culture, where self-worth is directly tied to one’s output in the workplace.
However, this ideology serves a much darker purpose. It enables the capitalist class to extract labor from workers under the guise of moral duty, encouraging them to work harder for less. In the context of capitalism, workers are commodified, reduced to units of labor that exist solely to generate profit for employers. The puritanical idea that one must toil endlessly in pursuit of success turns the worker into a cog in the machine, losing sight of their own human needs, desires, and autonomy. When people are taught to value hard work for its own sake, they are less likely to challenge the exploitative structures that allow their labor to be extracted at a rate far greater than the compensation they receive.
In essence, the Puritan work ethic becomes a tool of oppression, conditioning workers to accept poor working conditions and low wages while internalizing the idea that they are morally inferior if they do not work excessively. This deeply ingrained belief distracts from the material reality: that it is not the lack of personal effort that keeps individuals in poverty, but the systemic inequalities that govern the distribution of wealth and resources in society.
The "We’re a Family" Fallacy
Another troubling aspect of contemporary work culture is the prevalence of the "we’re a family" rhetoric that many employers use to justify expectations of loyalty, sacrifice, and unrelenting commitment from their employees. This narrative is particularly common in corporate environments, where employers present themselves as caring, benevolent figures who value their workers as "family members" rather than as mere employees.
While this rhetoric may sound appealing on the surface, it is ultimately exploitative. The "family" analogy is designed to obscure the power imbalance between employer and employee. In a true family, there is mutual care and responsibility; in the workplace, however, the employer holds all the power and often only shows concern for the worker when it benefits their bottom line. Workers are expected to be flexible, to work overtime without extra pay, and to remain loyal to the organization even as companies engage in mass layoffs or relocate their operations to maximize profits.
This false familial bond serves to mask the reality of capitalist exploitation. The "we’re a family" narrative implies that workers should view their jobs as something more than a means of survival—something that gives purpose and meaning. Yet, the employer is not equally invested in the welfare of the worker. If the worker’s output ceases to be valuable or the company finds a cheaper labor force elsewhere, the so-called "family" is more than willing to discard them without hesitation. The framing of work as a familial relationship only serves to coerce workers into sacrificing more of themselves while accepting less in return.
A Material Solution
A material critique of work demands a fundamental shift in how labor is viewed and structured in society. Rather than being seen as a moral duty or a form of personal fulfillment, work should be understood as a means of survival—a necessary process for meeting human needs. The employer-employee relationship is transactional, or at least, we really need to view it as such. Work should also be organized around collective well-being, not profit maximization. Instead of loyalty being demanded from the worker, loyalty should be to the community of workers themselves, who have a shared interest in ensuring fair wages, reasonable hours, and secure benefits.
We also must call for an end to the glorification of endless toil. The focus should shift from productivity as a moral obligation to a focus on human flourishing. Instead of pushing individuals to work more for less, society should prioritize work-life balance, fair compensation, and job security. Work should not be something that defines a person’s worth, but rather a means to fulfill material needs and contribute to the common good.
In the workplace, the "family" analogy should be replaced with a more realistic vision of solidarity. Workers should be seen as equal partners in the organization, with their interests aligned with the company’s success rather than subordinated to it. Collective bargaining, democratic management structures, and stronger labor protections would ensure that workers have a say in the terms of their employment and a fair share of the wealth they help generate.
Why This Matters
By highlighting the exploitative nature of loyalty, the Puritan work ethic, and the “family” narrative, workers can begin to recognize the systemic forces that keep them trapped in cycles of under-compensation and overwork. This understanding empowers workers to unite and collectively demand better working conditions, fair pay, and job security. Unions, as organizations of collective power, offer workers a platform to challenge the inequities of the capitalist workplace. By promoting an awareness of how labor is commodified and how workers’ loyalty is often exploited, my hope is that we can inspire individuals to see the value of organizing together to negotiate more equitable terms of employment. Collective bargaining and union action, rooted in these materialist insights, provide the means to counter the exploitative narratives and structures that dominate the workplace, shifting the balance of power in favor of workers - and one day hopefully let us achieve global working class consciousness.