Division of Labour is the main component of social inequality

(J.D. Pooley / Getty Images)

Did you know that the eighty-five richest people in the world have a net worth that equals the net worth of halfof Earth's population's? It's true. Inequality exists in every society, and you can see it clearly when you look at the Walmarts in America. The reason why it is so vivid in this company is because you can see (via news reports and studies) that the owners make so much more than the store employees, and it is because of the division of labour; CEOs use this aspect of society to exploit the working class.

Back in November, during the time surrounding American Thanksgiving, the kind-hearted Walmart held a food drive... but guess for who? It was for their needy workers. (Employed people who don't make enough to feed themselves and their family? Isn't that some shit?) The owners of Walmart, according to Forbes, are worth around $136 billion, and the company raked in approximately $305 billion in annual sales back in 2010. Yet they are unable to pay their store workers a living wage? Why? Well, it's because of the division of labour, where citizens are given specialized tasks in the workforce. But that's not the key problem. The key problem arises when tasks are placed into a hierarchal format and the people in power abuse and take advantage of their workforce, such as the case with this super department store.

In the U.S., Wal-Mart has a lot of political power (another issue with the current state of capitalism). And with this power, comes corruption -- in Walmart's case anyways. According to a report by The Young Turks, the reason why the department store is able to bully their workers is because they have so much money that they are able to pay politicians to not raise minimum wages to a living wage and to not enforce pro-union policies. It is a true bourgeoisie vs. proletariat war, and it is all because of the division of labour.

However, I'm not saying we should be done with the division of labour or that higher ranks in companies shouldn't be paid more than the lower ranks. I am, however, saying that CEOs/owners/managers shouldn't have so much power that they are able to influence the government and to harass their employees. They should be forced to pay employees an amount that will allow them to at least live semi-comfortably -- not barely above the poverty line. Capitalism needs to be regulated, money should not be allowed to dictate the directions of government, and corrupted corporation owners need to be held accountable for the crimes that they have committed.

That's all I'm saying.