Capitalism is an economy characterised by private property in capital. To make a profit, the capital is invested in machinery, techniques, and labour. Better machines, techniques, and labour cost more than the capitalist has on hand, but also produce more, or better, in the long run, driving the productivity of labour up and therefore the price of goods down while increasing the amount of goods the labour needs to produce until all the new s**t is payed off, until it is profitable. This tendency of the rate of profit to decrease over time results in a surplus that cannot be sold, so capital cannot be realized, finance cannot be met, and the economy grinds to a halt, people are thrown out of work, and want is generalized even though there is so much stuff around.

So given this, what sense does it make to call for the old slogan of 'fair day's wage for a fair day's work'?

Workers transform all the natural wealth of this planet into electricity, houses, prepared food, clothes, tv, and iPods. The owners of capital do nothing, yet they don't merely receive the 'lion's share', they get damn-near all of it. And why? Because they keep people on centrelink starvation rations, deprived of a livelihood when there's room for them in the economy,but it doesn't fit their current rate of profit? So what is a 'fair day's wage' and a 'fair day's work' in this context? It is nothing other than a call for business as usual, but 'please sir, can I have some more?'

What is needed is the abolition of private property and the wages system, and the replacement of the production of goods for exchange based on profit, with a planned economy that produces in accordance with a rational understanding of human need and economic sustainability.