where's Adam Smith now?

Remember how they used to tell us that the reason the Capitalistic American system was better than Communism was because it used Money as a motivator? Yet to hear Republicans (the chief advocates of capitalism) talk, the primary problem with much of American business is the unreasonable demands of American workers for more money. If we cant have more money, what exactly is supposed to be our motivation to do all that work that is making our Capitalist Aristocrats so wealthy? Fear of losing our jobs (or whatever lame, troublesome health care we may have)? Pride and loyalty to a company that will drop us like a hot potato should a cheaper alternative become available?
Hmmm. Motivation through "loyalty" and fear, but not money... where have I heard of that system before?

I bring this up because where I work instituted a new policy this year that says that on weeks where we have paid holidays, we will not get overtime pay until we've worked over 40 hours. This, despite (or perhaps because) of the fact that holiday weeks are often very busy, both because they're shorter, and because management (both work and client) couldnt advance plan their way out of a wet paper bag. This means, for instance, that if you had to work on July 5th, 2008, a Saturday, you would have been paid at your normal hourly rate (until you hit the magic forty).
Now, a sensible person would ask, "Why would I want to ruin my holiday weekend by working, without even getting the benefit of time-and-a-half*?" Well, it could be because the management frowns upon such questions, considering them to be evidence of a "negative attitude". It could also be because any question of pay vs. worth is met with the question "Are you saying you dont work as hard as you could because you're not paid enough?" (a question on par with "Honey, does this make me look fat?" for the desirability of hearing it). Or it could be simply because people have actually been fired because they displayed an unwillingness to come in and work on Saturdays when it was deemed "necessary"?

As you can perhaps see, a sensible person wouldnt ask this question, unless he had a union backing him up. But since Texas is a "right to work" state (an Orwellian doctrine that supposedly means "you dont have to join a union and pay dues if you dont want to", but actually works out as "we can fire your ass for any reason, especially if you're sniffing around a question of worker's rights") most of us dont have a union (and many who do dont get much out of them**). So a sensible person keeps their head down, does the work, grumbles a lot, and dreams of a better job***. Again, is this the American Dream, or some other country's?

Here's an idea that I would never even consider putting before my staunch conservative, "free-market"-loving boss: A worker who slacks off on the job is a true capitalist. After all, the most successful capitalists are those who give the least product they can get away with for the most money they can collect.
That means that the guy in the next cubicle over from you, the one who's always surfing the web while you're hard at work - he's a better capitalist than you are. The guy who's always busting his ass, maybe working overtime off the clock, who frowns at the guy surfing the net because "he's not pulling his weight" - that man is a communist, sacrificing for the Glory of the State (or, in this case, of the Corporation), not considering his own self-interest but the needs of the Boss (who probably has far fewer than he does). That's not the Capitalist Way!

All the talk of capitalism and free markets and such is almost always really just code for the old fashioned notion of the law of the jungle. The strongest get it all but the scraps, the weak can go die, and we all pay homage to those who've got the goods, even when they've gotten it through our hard work.
Somehow, I dont think is what is meant when folks talk about the American Dream. Or is that just another Disney-like phrase to sell us some shit we cant afford?


* Hell, no, we dont get double-time on Holidays.
** My wife's Teacher's Union being a prime example.
*** and between the economy and the cost of higher education, dreaming is about all one can do anymore.