Deconstructing "Human Resources"

As capitalism is conquering the world, it is also seeping into our language, in ways that are almost undetectable. This is something we must be aware of, as our language should be kept seperate from that which dominates and exploits us. Language is another milieu that capitalism wants to monopolize, as this will allow it to control the means of communication and possible revolution. I was made aware of capitalism's penetration into our language, through the term "human resources". Human Resources is a department of every business, it handles payment and is the bridge between the employee's personal life and professional life. However, we are not interested in the functions of the department as they appear to the employee, we are interested in the term and how it applies to the capitalist agenda. The best way to do this is to deconstruct each term on its own.

First, then, we shall examine the term "Human", as it is understood in relation to the business world. Here this term stands for that which the department is directed toward, namely humans, people, the employees. It is trying to understand the human aspects of employment. In this way the employees are looked at abstractly, not as people, but as that which needs to be managed and controlled. It is human resources that handles applications, terminations, and the dreaded performance evaluations. It would seem as if applying the term "human", to a business department, is a mask for the actual function of the department. At face value the department seems to be beneficial to the employee; it ensures that the employee gets their compensation, but in reality it just manages and controls the employee.

The other term, "Resources", is much more simple to deconstruct, but it will make apparent the capitalist manipulation of the term. If we think of any other thing that is designated as a resource, such as energy, food, lumber etc., we will understand the context that the employees are held. It is the employees that are the resources which "human resources" seeks to control. Resources are things that are managed. Essentially, we look at resources as that which is expendable, up to a certain point. For example, the amount of people a company can keep employed, until the company loses money, is something human resources handles. It is as if humans are something to be harvested (or employed) and utilized, in the same way that lumber or energy is. Humans are literally just another resource.

The tragedy is that we, the employed, are oblivious to this manipulation of language. In every place of business, there is a department that specializes in the manipulation of a living resource, namely the employed. It was unapparent to the employed because capitalism is seeping into all aspects of our lives. We must resist this kind of language abuse because once we are treated as manipulated resources, we will begin to see others as resources for our own manipulation, thereby creating a society of sociopathic citizens, breeding paranoia in the form of a constant cost benefit analysis of every situation and person that the citizens come across.