3. On Exploitation:The More Advanced Technology Becomes, the More Severe Exploitation Grows

Consider a society of 100 people with extremely backward productive capacity. In such a society, every member must work to sustain all 100 individuals. If one person ceases to labor, another will inevitably starve to death. Under these circumstances, every member is compelled to work; otherwise, the society would swiftly collapse. In this context, each person relies solely on their own labor to survive, and exploitation cannot arise.

As technology advances and productivity increases, 99 people can sustain 100. Now, one person can survive without laboring. Based on the principle of self-interest inherent in human nature, exploitation begins to take root.

Technology continues to advance and productivity continues to rise. When the labor of 90 people can support 100, the number of non-working individuals begins to grow, and exploitation expands.

By analogy, when the labor of 50 people must support 100, exploitation severely worsens. As exploitation continues to worsen, it may reach a point where the labor of 10 people supports 100, or even the labor of one person supports 100.

In short, within this process of escalating exploitation, the degree of oppression will inevitably reach a critical threshold capable of collapsing the social system. Once this threshold is breached, the existing social order becomes precariously unstable and may collapse at any moment.

Based on the above analysis, we can draw this conclusion: the more advanced technology becomes, the higher productivity rises, and the more severe exploitation grows.

In ancient times, a family needed decades or even centuries to accumulate immense wealth. Yet today's wealthy can amass vast fortunes in mere years. The fundamental reason lies in ancient society's low technological level, which limited exploitation capacity, whereas modern society's advanced technology enables greater exploitation.

People universally oppose being exploited, though they also universally desire to exploit others. Yet the vast majority lack the means to do so. To completely eradicate exploitation in human society, there is only one method: abandon technology and revert to a state of extreme poverty where anyone ceasing labor would immediately face starvation. This is the sole path. Under the principle of self-interest inherent in human nature, exploitation inevitably arises whenever material abundance exists. Clearly, humanity will never choose this extreme poverty without exploitation. Thus, exploitation is an inevitable feature of human society. However, exploitation is not necessarily harmful; some forms of exploitation benefit humanity.

Which forms of exploitation benefit humanity? To answer this, we must first clarify the essence of exploitation. At its core, exploitation is acquiring the fruits of labor without contributing any labor—in short, getting something for nothing. This manifests in two scenarios: one where no labor is contributed yet the fruits of labor are obtained; the other where labor is contributed, but the fruits obtained exceed the labor expended. The beneficial form of exploitation lies within the second scenario.

Consider the shoemaking industry where, on average, each shoemaker produces five pairs of leather shoes daily, each priced at 100 yuan. Thus, each shoemaker earns 500 yuan per day. However, a shoemaker named Li Si possesses exceptional skill. By refining his techniques, he can produce 10 pairs of identical leather shoes daily. This means Li Si requires only half the labor time per shoe compared to his peers, yet the market price remains unchanged. Consequently, Li Si's daily income reaches 1,000 yuan. Readers of the essay "On Money" may recall that, fundamentally, everyone's hourly labor value is equal. Therefore, Li Si's daily income should be 500 yuan like other shoemakers. The extra 500 yuan Li Si earns represents exploitation of society achieved through technological advancement. Although Li Si exploits society through technological improvement, this exploitation benefits humanity. It drives technological progress and increases productivity. It is precisely by advancing along this path of beneficial exploitation that humanity has reached this era of extreme material abundance.

Therefore, such beneficial exploitation should not be restricted but encouraged. However, exploitation where individuals reap the fruits of labor without contributing any work themselves must be prohibited. We will explore this issue in the essay "On Unearned Gain."