Das Reich der Freiheit beginnt mit der Verkürzung des Arbeitstages

In the third volume of Capital, Karl Marx clearly stated the ultimate purpose of communism, the measure of its realisation: the freedom granted to each individual as soon as the work necessary to satisfy the needs of all is organised collectively. The accuracy and validity of this neglected and forgotten aspect of his thinking is once again clearly evident in the current situation. At the beginning of the 21st century, the realm of non-freedom is spreading. The theft of labour time at the expense of wage earners has assumed the proportions of a worldwide robbery. The eight-hour working day, which was wrested from us in a tough struggle, is under threat. We are witnessing the end of a phenomenon that has been observed for more than a hundred years: the reduction of working hours. And unemployment, which is plunging many people into misery, does not seem to have to change anything. The masters of wage labour have decided to use every means at their disposal to turn back the clocks, turn back the hands and seize every single moment: Extra human labour is still the most profitable resource for the market economy. This aggressive appropriation of time, which is being waged like a crusade with the help of so-called reforms, is meeting with a great deal of resistance. It is high time to resume a struggle that has been going on for more than a hundred years.