A Quick Example to Counter Cowen's Point About Worker Dignity

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Cowen argues that work is a “source of worker dignity.” However, as Anderson counters, this might apply to white-collar jobs and in perhaps general to the feelings of inadequacy that come with unemployment, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the workplaces themselves are sources of worker dignity. Instead, the position of being employed, or perhaps of having money, is a source of dignity. The degree to which employers enhance this in particular cases can vary. Cowen’s assertion that “workplaces, overall, are significant sources of human dignity and fulfillment in today’s capitalist world” is perhaps contradicted by the large swaths of people that chose stimulus checks over employment during the pandemic. If low-wage workers derived so much happiness and fulfillment from their jobs, then many of those who were able would likely have returned to work when it became safe again. However, a large majority chose not to, perhaps because they derived dignity from having housing, food, and disposable income, which they could get in some degree from a stimulus check, rather than from going to work. I think Cowen has mistaken the freedoms, comforts, and dignity that come with money in our society for a love for work, which in many cases is not actually present.

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