It’s okay to feel bad or angry, but don’t blame yourself. Being laid off is a violent act, a theft. They stole from you. Over twelve years, your work provided value to this company. This value flowed into constant capital (buildings, machines, laptops, tools, whatever is needed for that work). All this stuff is still there. If it gets sold, you won’t see any of it. You got paid less then you were worth to your employer, otherwise, why hire anyone? The unpaid part of your work (your surplus value) payed for all this constant capital. You didn’t control it, but at least you could use part of it in your job. Now by firing you, they made the theft complete.
The market always has ups and downs, on up times, you didn’t get any fat bonus. On down times you just get let go. For a capitalist, firing people is a natural and expected part of exploiting them. Accept that with all the chaos of the market and the periodic crisis of capitalism, being let go can happen to anyone.
The antidote to feeling bad about it is doing something about it. Join a Marxist org, read theory, join a union.
It’s okay to feel bad or angry, but don’t blame yourself. Being laid off is a violent act, a theft. They stole from you. Over twelve years, your work provided value to this company. This value flowed into constant capital (buildings, machines, laptops, tools, whatever is needed for that work). All this stuff is still there. If it gets sold, you won’t see any of it. You got paid less then you were worth to your employer, otherwise, why hire anyone? The unpaid part of your work (your surplus value) payed for all this constant capital. You didn’t control it, but at least you could use part of it in your job. Now by firing you, they made the theft complete.
The market always has ups and downs, on up times, you didn’t get any fat bonus. On down times you just get let go. For a capitalist, firing people is a natural and expected part of exploiting them. Accept that with all the chaos of the market and the periodic crisis of capitalism, being let go can happen to anyone.
The antidote to feeling bad about it is doing something about it. Join a Marxist org, read theory, join a union.