Exploitation Of Man By Man?
What’s the difference between a becak (Pedi cab) driver and a jet aircraft pilot? They are just the same. They carry passengers. No matter how low the becak driver’s profession is, he remains a human being. He is not an animal which can be treated arbitrarily.
He is an entrepreneur and employs himself. He does not work for somebody else. He feels free to work, he is proud of his vehicle and his profession. His is an honorable profession and a respectable job for the matter.
Exploitation de l’homme par l’homme? He doesn’t feel himself exploited by his fellow human beings. What this French saying (exploitation of man by man) indicates is, making man work without proper payment or paying workers an amount below the minimum wage for survival. This is inhumane. This is not so with the becak profession.
From Pos Kota, The
B u t ,
Government officials say the profession of the Pedi cab driver is inhumane as the job they perform is regarded as exploiting men. “Memperkuda”, they say, that’s treating him as a horse.
If that concept is to hold, then quite a number of other professions will also fall into the same category including that of house servant. And what about other professions such as the designer or the director of a company? Are their capabilities not being exploited for the benefit of other people?
I don’t see any point in the idea if each of us is expected to provide all the services one need all by ourselves, which means that we have to be our own cook, driver, pilot, teacher or salesman at the same time.
And taken from this point of view, the profession of Pedi cab driver, like other professions is just a means of extending services to fellow citizens, instead of exploitation or having others work for us as a horse.
The Exploitation of Service, from Jayakarta, the Jakarta Post, March 13, 1990
January 2011
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