Squidward And Capitalism: Research Essay

Discussion – Capitalism

Capitalism is a financial framework in which private people or organizations own capital products. The creation of products and enterprises depends on gracefully and request in the general market—known as a market economy—as opposed to through focal arranging—known as an arranged economy or order economy.

Karl Marx considered capitalism to be a dynamic authentic stage that would inevitably deteriorate because of inside inconsistencies and followed by socialism. Marxists characterize capital as ‘a social, economic relation’ between individuals (as opposed to among individuals and things). In this sense, they look to destroy capital. They accept that private ownership as the means of production enhances entrepreneurs (proprietors of capital) to the detriment of labourers. In brief, they contend that the owners of the means of production oppress the workforce.

In Karl Marx’s view, the dynamic of capital would, in the long run, state the common laborers and in this manner make the social conditions for a revolution. Private ownership over distribution and means of production is viewed as making reliance on non-claiming classes on the ruling class, and eventually as a source of limitation of human freedom.

In this episode, Mr. Krab is a representation of a capitalist due to his power of having the workplace, paying labor, and gaining more benefit from it. He thinks and behaves according to the principle of capitalism. What matters in his life is only money, and gain more money as the day goes by. To gain a lot of money and benefit, Mr. Krab conducts away in his relation to his labor as pure profit. He no longer commits relationship with Spongebob and Squidward, as pure human relationships. Rather, his relationship to his labors as a commodity that can be oppressed. The dialogue above represents the traits of the capitalist, Mr. Krab, and activate a way to exploit his labor from paying them a standard wage.

The capitalist system appears in terms of power to violate individual rights or well-being. Mr. Krab used his power to double up his money by forcing his laborers to pay for breathing, standing, talking, existing, lollygagging, and chewing, something that individuals do that has no relation to the job. Mr. Krab has no reason to make them pay for something illogical. However, Mr. Krab has the power to do that, including violating individual rights. Therefore, Mr. Krab gains surplus value from his labors. He sees his labor as profit that he can oppress to make him richer.

The capitalist system allows the owner to do everything that benefits him the most. Capitalist has the power to control everything including institution, education, politics, and also people. In this context, Krusty Krab represents a capitalist system that controls the most in Bikini Bottom. The people that are under control by Krusty Krab are Squidward and Spongebob, workers that have no freedom to claim their rights. Also, they always follow the illogical rule of Mr. Krabs the whole time. Mr. Krab, a capitalist, has the freedom to benefit his business. Meanwhile, Spongebob and Squidward are merely workers/ proletariats that work for themself as well as enrich the capitalist business.

-Wage-Labor Capitalism

The success behind capitalism cannot be separated from the work of labor. The capitalist needs labor for their product. If the labor separates themself from the factory, the capitalist cannot gain any benefit. The same thing happens to labor when they do not work for the factory anymore. Marx and Engels call this condition as wage-labour capitalism. Capitalism is where there are workers, vice versa.

Wage labor is wages that are given by capitalists in return for their labor power. Labor power to the capitalist is a commodity, to be sold and bought like any other. The value of labor power depends, similar to every single other product /commodity, on the amount of labor expected to produce it. If laborers are to give work capacity to the business people they require food, clothing, housing, and so on, their compensation needs to cover the expense of these things – it needs to coordinate the measure of social workers expected to create them. Wages additionally need to cover the expense of raising the up and coming age of laborers, the laborers’ children who are the future suppliers of work capacity to the capitalist.

The production and reproduction of labor power ultimately define the labor wage. This relationship between employee and capital is unlike a slave that is tied up to its master. Labor is given freedom in this sense and the exchange of labor power appears to be a voluntary act. On the other hand, capitalist takes higher benefit from this formal equality. The capital achieves many benefits by the worker, so they can expand their company, office, livelihood, and so on – and the worker merely works for their life, and submit their dedication to work to capital as a whole. Also, workers often sell their labor power to capitalism in extra labor where they spent more time than usual, surplus value can be gain by the capitalist to control further means of production which is part of capitalist profit.

Labor power in this episode can be seen from Squidward and Spongebob, who have been submitting their time, skill, for Krusty Krab. Krusty Krab is a restaurant that always crowded by many consumers due to the taste of krabby patty. People like eating krabby patty and it is everyone’s favorite of Bikini Bottom. This benefit cannot be separated from the work and skill of Spongebob and Squidward, the labors. Spongebob with cooking skills is the key success of Krusty Krab. Also, Squidward really helps Krusty Krab by serving consumers and dealing with the payment. However, as the only favorite restaurant of Bikini Bottom, Mr. Krab only hires two workers. With many profits that he has from the success of Krusty Krab, Mr. Krab should pay his laborers with a high amount of money. Because without the involvement of Spongebob and Squidward, Krusty Krab is no more, and Mr. Krab will never gain any profits.

The statement of Squidward really says everything that Mr. Krab almost never pay them at all. What Mr. Krab did is the next level of labor oppression. For all dedications that Squidward and Spongebob give to Krusty Krab are never being appreciated by Mr. Krab. What he thinks the matter is only money and getting more money without appreciating his laborers’ power. In reality, the normal practice of wage labor in the workforce still remains some oppression to laborers. The equality of benefits between owners and workers is totally different. Owners are benefited more by the workers to expand their company, livelihood, office, while the workers only get paid for living. Even though sometimes the owners give a bonus to their workers by giving their workers extra time

to work harder. Yet, that is still not enough for workers to improve their class status. Moreover, the capitalist almost never pays his laborers, such as Spongebob and Squidward in this case, this is the next level of oppression that strongly avoid them from increasing their class status.

-False consciousness

Every exploitation carried on by capitalist always work due to the fact that some proletariat is suffering from false consciousness. False consciousness derived from Marxist social class theory. Marx wrote about this theory in his book ‘Capital, Volume 1,’ with his collaborator, Friedrich Engels, in, ‘Manifesto of the Communist Party.’The concept refers to the systematic misinterpretation of dominant social relations in the mind of the subordinate class. Marx saw false consciousness as a consequence of an unequal social system controlled by the capitalist. The false consciousness among workers is dangerous because it prevents them from being able to aware of exploitation by the capitalist. Also, commodity fetishism, the relationship between people (owner and worker) equal to the relationship between things (product and money) – plays a key role in emerging false consciousness among labor. Italian Marxist thinker, Antonio Gramsci expanded this idea by arguing the process of cultural hegemony led by ones holding economic, social, and cultural power in society produced a ‘common sense’. This common sense is actually a misunderstanding of social relationships that determine the social, political, and economic system.

False consciousness is a way of thinking that avoids society from realizing dominant social relations in the consciousness of subordinate class. Members of the working class suffer from false consciousness that their mental systematically hidden to realities of exploitation, subordination, and domination of those relations contains. The idea of false consciousness is expanded by many Marxist thinkers such as; Georg Lukács, Antonio Gramsci, and Louis Althusser.

Basically, society cannot be separated from the power of the institution to think the same way as the system. Three are many members of the subordinate class suffering from class consciousness so they are not aware of the domination, and exploitation they experience every day. False consciousness really benefits capitalists to succeed in their mode of production, called commodity fetishism. In reality, many workers cannot realize the oppression they experience in the workplace. With good qualities that they have, they still consider deserving the treatment of capitalists, such as; low standard wage, long duration of the job, and submission of total labor power.

In this case, the character that suffers from false consciousness is Spongebob. Like a good chef, that really benefits Mr. Krab from his delicious cook, Spongebob is strongly oppressed by Mr. Krab more severe than Squidward. Ironically, he never realizes that he is oppressed this whole time. This is evidenced by the dialogue above that he is still willing to pay his wage for illogical policy. This condition really benefits Mr. Krab because Spongebob is open to being oppressed by Mr. Krab time by time. This is so clear that Mr. Krab’s oppression really works on Spongebob due to suffering from false consciousness.