As my two week Christmas holiday comes to - a close I find myself thinking (as I always do after a longer break) back to the real world. Back to wage slavery and a chronic lack of time, not only for leisure but simple labour reproduction and household labour. A part of me is still so conditoned that I can’t help but think of breaks from work as fantastical and dream like; a cruel taste of how wonderful life can be when one isn’t beholden to a capitalist master. When one has time and space to breathe and be and enjoy the cosmic miracle that life even exists.
A prolonged escape produces a similar feeling. I once had the privilege of a research sabbatical in Europe. I got a taste of the freedom to do my own work without care for my basic needs. At the end, the bitter feeling of returning to my own exploitation washed over me. And now the awareness of being a wage-slave follows me every day.
I really like that you used the term escape. Because that’s what Vacations are under capitalism. A vacation feels like “I am taking this solely for my own enjoyment.”
Vacations under capitalism, especially in the US, feel more like “I am running from my job for a bit so I do not end up killing myself.”