wage slave
Paycheck-dependent worker
A wage slave is someone entirely dependent on their job for survival, with no realistic alternative but to keep working under whatever conditions are offered.
The term carries critique of economic systems that nominally offer freedom but leave workers with little practical choice: Corporate executives talk about opportunity while their wage slaves can barely make rent.
The implication is that despite legal freedom, economic necessity creates a form of bondage.
Manual laborers collectively
- blue-collarManual labor workforce
- proletariatLaborers lacking capital ownership
- laborerPhysical task performer
- workerPerson who toils
employee · rank-and-file · hourly · underclass · have-nots · ordinary people · masses
Crush into particles
- toilStrenuous, prolonged effort
- slogLaborious persistent effort
- monotonyTiresome lack of change
- tediumWearisome dullness
burnout · exhaustion · overwork · routine · repetitive · mundane · unfulfilling · dead-end
Given inadequate wages
- overworkedLaboring beyond healthy limits
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
- powerlessnessInability to affect outcomes
- alienationState of being isolated
dehumanization · unfairness · abuse · sweatshop · servitude · peonage · subjugation · inequality
Minimal means of living
- hand-to-mouthConsuming resources immediately
- scraping byBarely having enough
- making ends meetEarning enough to survive
- necessitiesWhat you cannot lack
struggle · bare minimum · eke out · surviving · working poor · bills · rent · debt
working class
Manual laborers collectively
- blue-collarManual labor workforce
- proletariatLaborers lacking capital ownership
- laborerPhysical task performer
worker · employee · rank-and-file · hourly · underclass · have-nots · ordinary people · masses
grind
Crush into particles
tedium · burnout · exhaustion · overwork · routine · repetitive · mundane · unfulfilling · dead-end · weariness
underpaid
Given inadequate wages
- overworkedLaboring beyond healthy limits
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
- powerlessnessInability to affect outcomes
alienation · dehumanization · unfairness · abuse · sweatshop · servitude · peonage · subjugation · inequality · capitalism
subsistence
Minimal means of living
- hand-to-mouthConsuming resources immediately
- scraping byBarely having enough
- making ends meetEarning enough to survive
necessities · struggle · bare minimum · eke out · surviving · working poor · bills · rent · debt · no savings
- social classupper class, middle class, lower class, working class, social class
- Shadowrunrunner, decker, rigger, fixer, Johnson
- Hard Workgrind, hustle, toil, effort, labor
- class labelsaristocrat, beggar, bourgeois, commoner, elite
- Office SatireDilbert, Office Space, The Office, Silicon Valley, buzzword bingo
- unfree laborersbondsman, bondswoman, bondservant, bondman, bondwoman
wage slaveindependently wealthy
Having unearned sufficient means
rentier · trust fund baby · heir · heiress · early retiree
wage slavecapitalist
Private ownership supporter
employer · business owner · bourgeoisie · master · owner
wage slavefree agent
Unsigned professional seeking employment
entrepreneur · self-employed · freelancer · independent contractor · artisan