How does internalized capitalism affect you?
the history of the 9-5 work week + how the story of capitalism fs with our brains
I write this letter on Wednesday. My house smells like citrus and cumin. As I sit with coffee cup warm in my hand, I identify guilt in my body. Guilt for choosing to slow down today at the cost of income, even in the midst of busyness.
My last walk through the woods, I talked with a friend about internalized capitalism.
If you’re new to the concept, here’s a primer. Internalized capitalism can look like:
struggling to rest because you deem it lazy or unproductive
Not valuing work that is soul-nourishing, only work that is income-producing or career-advancing
Not valuing educational tracts that edify your life, only ones that lead to jobs (or give you a return for your massive investment
Celebrating workaholism
Answering “busy” to the question “how are you?”
Prioritizing work over health and relationships
We moved in our most natural element – women together in the wild. My friend’s soft, sweet baby slept in her stroller as we walked. Yet our conversation pulled us to the most unnatural of elements – our country’s workplace. One of planned obsolescence, egregious wealth disparity, and the myth of working hard to “make it.”
My brilliant, hardworking friend was laid off right after returning from maternity leave – the legal loophole allowing companies to continue discriminating against mothers in the workforce. She’s feeling not only the frustration many of us do from overwork, but also the frustration of finding work that allows her to still care for her child.
A USA article suggests that the term internalized capitalism is especially popular among young people. They assume because young people are pressured to “make something of themselves while navigating the crush of student debt and high cost of housing.”
Weirdly, history can have a way of perpetuating internalized capitalism, too. I’ve been researching the history of the 40 hour work week. It leads me to think I should feel lucky for where we’re at. It could be worse. It could be like it was in the 1830s, when a girl named Amelia started mill work at age 12. Amelia recorded that mill girls worked nearly 13 hours a day. “It was worse than the Russian serf who labors from sun to sun.”
It could be like it was in 1835, when Irish coal heavers in Philadelphia striked. They asked for the bare minimum. 10 hours of work and 2 hours for meals so they could eat. That’s all.
Labor movements in the states started calling for the 8 hour work day in 1836. Employers reacted begrudgingly at best, vindictively at worst. Even when the US Federal Government granted the 40 hour work week to its laborers and mechanics, they also cut their pay by 20%.
Many working people didn’t achieve the eight hour day until after the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Meaning it took an entire century of activism for workers’ needs to be respected. Meaning we should be grateful, shouldn’t we? Look how far we’ve come! The 8 hour workday was a hard-won accomplishment!
But in many ways, our workplace landscape hasn’t changed. Corporations are still given more protections and benefits than individuals. Workers are still overworked and underpaid, especially as costs of living have risen while wages haven’t. Employers are still asking employees not to talk about their salaries. People are still getting ill and dying from overwork.
I see the struggle in myself, in my partner, in my friends. It breaks my heart again and again. How stuck we feel. How exhausted, but with seemingly no other choice.
I believe there can be another way. That we can shift what we value away from productivity and progress and towards equity, love, wellness, and peace. There are steps we can take as individuals, but obviously change needs to happen at a larger level than that.
Next week I will dive into how I think capitalism could work. If we did it differently.
But in the meantime - I have a day ahead of me. Woods to walk in. Greens to gather. Orange slices to dry. Maybe even a nap to take. Here is my manifesto: goodbye to the guilt. Goodbye to the pressure to produce in order to be worthy. Hello to me as I am. You as you are. Breathing and laughing and being - that more than enough.
How does internalized capitalism affect you? How can you rebel?
Until next time,
A
IG: aadami_writing
These themes are (nearly) lifelong grapplings of mine. Thank you for sharing your wisdom Anna, for helping me feel not so alone in my frustration and confoundance. A prayer I often whisper: may we all remember how to make for the sake of process and connection.
This is a fantastic piece, Anna. I’ve been rebelling rather hard for a year—or maybe my whole life. But for this past year I’ve been mindful to not find my worth in how I participate in capitalism. It’s taken one whole to finally find a tiny bit of comfort with the ways in which I’m opting out (and making less money + not having a job that “makes sense” to most people). It was really just this month that I felt some ease set in, and with it more joy.