Introduction and Welcome
Not interested in politics? Who could blame you? The stuff that’s served up in the media is pretty dreary, after all. You may not be interested in politics because you feel you can’t do anything to bring about change. You may feel powerless.
But maybe you should be interested. “Politics”, after all, is very much interested in you.
What are you talking about?
Politics is interested in you because you are a component of what is called the “labour market” [and what we call the “working class”, see What is capitalism? for our definition of this term]. You may have heard in the media businessmen and political rulers referring to “labour costs” being too high. They become concerned when their attempts to maintain a “productive” and “flexible” labour force are resisted in some way. They happily admit that one of their roles is to manage the economy. And the most important component of the economy is you.
You may feel powerlessness, but this feeling is in itself powerful. As something for sale on the labour market, you are an absolutely essential component of the power and wealth of your employers and political rulers. Only as long as you accept this inequality (which has so many destructive consequences) can it remain.
Next: What is capitalism?
