May Day is celebrated in many countries as “Labor Day.” However, amidst the speeches and parades, a fundamental question is often forgotten: where does the value of work really come from?
Work is not dignified by the State. Nor by political slogans. Nor by decrees or official holidays.
Work is dignified by the freedom of those who choose to produce and by the responsibility of those who recognize the effort required to create value for themselves and others.
Work and Freedom: An Inseparable Relationship
Since human societies began to organize themselves, work has always been linked to individual autonomy.
Before state intervention, voluntary exchanges, the development of crafts, and the pursuit of excellence were driven not by coercion but by freedom.
When workers have freedom — to create, to negotiate, to undertake — their efforts become genuine progress.
It is in free cooperation between individuals that innovation, prosperity and true dignity of work emerge.
Without freedom, work becomes servitude.
Without individual responsibility, the effort is diluted into empty promises and unsubstantiated “rights.”
State Guardianship and the Degradation of Value
Over the last century, however, the State has taken on an increasingly greater role in defining what constitutes “decent work”.
Minimum wages, excessive regulations, sector protectionism and artificial employment policies have come to shape labor relations.
The result?
- Work that should be the fruit of freedom becomes an instrument of political manipulation.
- The worker ceases to be a free agent and begins to be seen as a part of the state machine.
- Creativity, meritocracy and entrepreneurial spirit are stifled by regulations that race to the bottom.
The State presents itself as the “protector” of workers — but what it delivers, in practice, is a golden prison: temporary benefits in exchange for the loss of autonomy.
Work and Responsibility: Two Sides of the Same Coin
The true value of work arises when each individual is free to choose, to make an effort and to reap (or not) the fruits of their efforts.
Personal responsibility is the other side of freedom:
- Working means taking risks.
- Working means dealing with failures and learning from them.
- Working means developing yourself not only as a producer, but as a human being.
This maturity cannot be imposed by decrees, nor guaranteed by paternalistic laws. It only flourishes in environments where merit is respected and diversity of talents is valued.
Work as an Expression of Human Dignity
May Day should be a day to celebrate not “the state that protects the worker” — but the worker who finds dignity in being free.
The freedom to work is, at bottom, the freedom to build.
To create value for yourself and others.
To leave a mark on the world without having to ask the government for permission.
Any state intervention that transforms workers into a supervised mass is, in practice, an offense to human dignity.
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