Is efficiency all its made out to be?
Capitalism is a key concept in almost every discipline of social science – Economics, Sociology, Political Science, etc. Many have different opinions and viewpoints over its various consequences, flaws or strengths. However, one thing has been agreed upon, Capitalism maximizes efficiency, indeed making the most out of the scarce resources that the world has. But is efficiency all its made out to be?
On the aspect of work, capitalism has led to the division of labor. Each person specializing in their own trade, thus becoming more efficient at doing the task they are specialized in. But one consequence of this that Karl Marx believed and foresaw, was the alienation experienced by a modern worker in a capitalist economy. He described it as ‘modern industrial workers labored at routine, deskilled, repetitive tasks on minute parts of products that meant nothing to them and that they themselves maybe could never afford. And the truth was, most would never advance, no matter how hard they worked. Work was not just harsh; it was meaningless.’1
I believe this is indeed true in Singapore. With a pyramid shaped corporate structure, only an elite few will rise the ranks, leaving those at the lower end of the corporate ladder perpetually stuck. Whatever work line we are in, we tend to be doing routine and repetitive tasks, yet not reaping the full benefits of our effort and labor. Corporate workers sit in the same office cubicle day after day, churning out reports that mean nothing to them, yet earning but a fraction of the profits their labor has reaped for the company. One may say job rotation solves the problem of repetition and routine, but the individual still remains within the same industry. People get stuck in the industry in which they specialized in, and are unable to switch industry. In a recent Straits Times article2, over 50% of Singaporean workers regret their choice of study or specialty. Yet they are unable or choose not to re specialize, because of the difficulty in doing so, in addition to the opportunity cost of re specializing. Citing from the article on the difficulty in re specializing, ‘The biggest obstacle cited was money, followed by the lack of time to search for a new career and family responsibilities.’, and the opportunity costs of doing so, ‘They include having to pick up new skills from scratch, starting lower in the office hierarchy and taking a pay cut.’ We spend half of our lives working, yet we have to spend it within the same industry, unable to get a feel of working in another field, apart from taking it up as a hobby. We live life once yet we only get to experience but a small portion of the experiences life offers. I believe this leads a lot to life dissatisfaction and is another consequence of specialized division of labor. I wonder if the benefits of efficiency are worth the consequences?
Looking at the larger picture of society and it seems that the general idea is that humanity is on a straight upward path towards a more perfect and efficient world. Though encountering some difficulties, slowly adapting and adjusting and progressing. I propose a different perspective, whereby we are on a vicious cycle. Rather than moving on a forward path, we are transitioning from phase to phase. On each phase, we find solutions to our problems and we ‘progress’. Yet I note that within our solutions themselves, always lie yet another series of inherent problems. We solve this new series of problems, and consequentially create another series of problems and the cycle continues. We solve poverty and create wealth, but the inequality of wealth distribution arises, we solve inequality and lack of efficiency or state dependency arises and so on. In the end, the ‘pluses’ of the solutions seem to cancel off with the ‘minuses’ of the problems created. Perhaps, living the ‘kampung’ life in the early 20th century, or the life as a hunter-gatherer in the ancient world, would have been equally or even more satisfying and fulfilling in our pursuit for happiness. Are we really progressing or simply transitioning? I may be incorrect in my perspective and humanity may be indeed progressing. But yet, in this constant rat race for greater efficiency, what have we lost in blindly pursuing this ‘good’? I feel that efficiency isn’t all its made out to be and that ‘more’ is not always better.
1Sernau, Scott. (2006) Global Problems – The search for equity, peace, and sustainability. Pearson.
2Clarissa Oon (Aug 05, 2008) Over 50% of workers regret choice of study. In AsiaOne. Retrieved August 25 2008. http://www.asiaone.com/Business/Story/A1Story20080805-80747.html
