> You claimed that wages only ever go up with a worker uprising.
I'm not sure you really understood my original post. I never said or meant to imply that wages never grow ever
I was talking about how increases in productivity do not lead to proportionally increased wages
Look, here's an example. Let's say I'm a worker producing Widgets for $20/hour by hand, and I can produce 10 widgets an hour. The company sells widgets for $10 each
In one hour I have produced $100 worth of widgets. The company pays me $20, the company keeps $80
Now the company buys a WidgetMachine. Using the WidgetMachine I can now produce 20 widgets an hour
I now produce $200 worth of Widgets per hour. The company still pays me $20, the company has now earned $180
My productivity has doubled, but my wage hasn't
So next year inflation is $5. The company increases my income to $25, starts charging a couple of cents more per Widget so they can absorb my wage increase without any change to their bottom line
My wage matches inflation, it still "grows" but it is completely divorced from my productivity
More importantly, my wage growing to match inflation doesn't help my buying power even remotely. If my wage only goes up to match exactly inflation then all I'm ever doing is treading water. At best all I can do is keep the exact same standard of living and lifestyle
Increases in "real wages" should have "real" impact on your life, it should let you have a better life than before