Let’s all cry for the white girl who got a solo for no reason
I have long believed that my labor is worth something. Seems plausible. It is, in fact, the basis of a currency economy. So when I was told that in order to make it in my chosen field*, I’d have to spend some time working for someone and not getting paid for it. I find the suggestion outrageous. Yes, yes, play the game. Yes, yes, it’s the way things are done. Fine. Nonetheless, no one takes on an intern out of the goodness of their heart. I would be asked to answer mail, file papers, answer phones; all minor but necessary functions of an office. Things that, if people weren’t trying to do for free, would have to be paid for.
There are more people looking to get in to an entry level job than there are positions for them. Bosses therefore have let us bid-down the value of our work to the point where entry level jobs are called “internships”, and as a rule interns don’t get paid. Which is actually my point. There is a power dynamic at work. It’s the classic one where those who own the means of production are able to set the prices at which they will hire people to pull the levers of the machinery**. It seems nothing turns me into a communist faster than being asked to provide value to an organization without being recompensed for my time and energy.
Which brings up another point: who can afford to work for free? The only answer that springs to mind is: those who are being supported by someone else. Generally, the rich. It’s sort of disgusting that in America in order to have access to a high-level career, you need to build a network by bidding your labor-cost down to nothing. I’m not saying that only rich kids get internships. I’m not saying that no poor people do. I am saying that internships look like a tool by which power perpetuates itself. That is sort of the antithesis of what America is supposed to be about.
In other news: I had an interview yesterday for an internship. I don’t have to like a system in order to participate in it. In fact, I can hate it and still see that I need to do it. Nevertheless, the market has decreed that my skills, talents, experience and degree are all worthless. I’ve got to fix that…
*politics
** In my case, that would be the machinery of state
