I'm aware of that.

At least now. Less so in my younger years.

it's so great you changed idea and you became both more realistic and more emphatic.

I'd like to think the empathy was present.

The first-hand and theoretic knowledge was not.

Much of the theory I'd been supplied (mainstream economics, an unbeknownst to me at the time hardline Libertarian professor in my intro course: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22133958), was false.

Undoing the damage of false priors and models, especially under ongoing objection and denial based on those, is difficult and expensive in time, effort, and willpower.

If you go with a notion of exploitation rather than lack of consent, it describes all waged labour.

Marx was right.

.. about nothing. Most people in his day knew this right away but even today some people still deny this.

And that's why we need strong unions run by smart people who have the interests of the workers in mind.

Yes, we need to put smart people in charge. Those stupid workers can't figure anything out on their own.

"Smart people" and "workers" are not mutually exclusive sets.