It is commonly agreed that to live well one must not only think of the immediate future, but also have long-term plans. Yet, the demands placed upon a person if he or she is to sell their labor (now), and thereby purchase groceries and pay the rent, are incompatible with long-term planning.
In my father's case, he moved far away from his family and friends (and my mother's family and friends) in order to get a decent job. The long term consequences of that move are something I've been complaining about in this blog. El Paso is not a nice place. Nonetheless, it is probably unreasonable to suppose my father could have managed to think that far ahead. However, it is not unreasonable to point out that for most individuals the need to pay the rent and buy groceries blots out all other considerations. Those immediate demands makes it unlikely that a person will spend much time reflecting upon the down-side of a particular employment situation.
Even more to the point: we are forced to take jobs because we have no other choice or no other alternative. (I do not consider starvation or a life of crime to be genuine alternatives.)
Thus we become wage slaves.
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