Exploitation 1920s vs. 2020s: Find the Difference

90 x 50

Acrylic on canvas

2022

“The history of all hitherto working relations is the history of exploitation. Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, baron and serf, guild master and journeyman, factory owner and worker, sales manager and salesman, corporate CEO and administrative assistant, start- up founder and software developer – in a word oppressor and oppressed – continue to stand in constant opposition to one another and in constant unequal status. 

The fruits of labor continue to be harvested by the oppressor, and the oppressed receives only scraps of what s/he creates with her/his own hands or mind. The exploited workers of the 21st century are held in the same chains as the workers of the 20th century and beyond.

The current labor market has not eliminated class antagonisms and exploitative practices. It only brought new classes, new conditions of oppression and new forms of struggle in place of the old ones. In the history of human society, workers walk in chains behind one another, which has already become a kind of tradition, like a traditional frame on an old painting. Only revolutionary reconstitution of society at large can remove the chains off their feet once and for all and establish a fair labor system and socio-economic equality in our society.”

The work is part of the “Let's Start A Revolution” series.