Megan McArdle linked to my last post about my guilt about having a house cleaner. She understands, but says that one should not feel guilty, because the house cleaner makes good money from doing the work and because house cleaning is good, honest labor.
I have five minutes before class, but I thought I would explain my guilt.
1. It's good for us to do some manual labor. It gives us some empathy for people who have to do that work all day.
2. It's good for us to not consume so many resources and create too large of a mess. The environmental reason.
3. Just because someone is willing to sell themselves into slavery, it does not make the institution a good one.
4. While I have no problem sending my shirts to the dry cleaners, I am very uncomfortable with sending all my laundry, especially my underwear. When the cleaning lady does the toilets, it makes me way more uncomfortable than when she vacuums my rug. All butt-related tasks should belong to the owner of the butt.
5. Just because you've really busy, it doesn't justify house cleaners.
6. House cleaning is a job with no possibility of advancement, no health care, no social security.
7. House cleaners are subject to abuse, since they work in the private sphere rather than in public.
8. House cleaners are often resented by their employers, since they seem to make a lot per hour. (Mine gets $55 for 2-1/2 hours of work). People forget that they don't get vacation days, sick leave, health insurance and other benefits.
I could keep going, but I have to run to work.