Leth"Why don't we pay for caring labor?" is indistinguishable from "why should I care if I'm not being paid?"
"This task is undervalued because we don't pay people for it" is just progressive for "I value money."
unauthorized ecology@lethargilistic this is an interesting take, I think I want to agree. What is caring labor meaning here though? Do you mean in the sense of what has been called reproductive labor/“the second shift”?
@lethargilistic I think a way to reframe this is, why is some labor valued more than other labor? Why do workers require compensation at all? Because we live in a society where life costs money. It would be nice to live in a society where no compensation is necessary, but we aren’t there yet, and in the mean time it’s worth while to point out these inconsistencies. There’s definitely a place for unpaid favors/mutual aid etc , but generally most people can’t pay rent with that.
@foxgloved The thing that immediately prompted this thought was probably talking about reproductive labor and just calling it "caring" to make their point seem more academic and abstract despite the fact that what they were saying made more sense for reproductive labor specifically and under the current regime specifically. But, taking it as abstract, I'd include everything from that to watching kids to healthcare to hospitality to anything where being mindful of someone else's needs is the idea.
I don't engage with "we're not in that world yet. I don't orient my principles based on what people perceive as possible. It's more valuable to imagine what's right because plenty of people put all their work into managing (and maintaining) things as they are already.
With that in mind, wealth is a hierarchy in itself and that remains true regardless of how mindful we are about parceling it out. It is impossible to balance a cumulative symbol of power in a "fair" way. So I don't think it is possible to even provisionally accept ideas like "compensation" or "fair compensation" for seriously progressive ends. In the end, we will just continue to have what we have because we will be fighting for the system that is oppressing us squarely within the logic of the system that is oppressing us.