Who is to blame?

[Dill]

(06-29-2018, 10:29 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: The funny thing is that comic is older. I'm not sure to when it dates, but this is a constant cycle that we have been seeing in this country.

One of the things I read about recently was how much the great thinkers of the 19th century were concerned about corporations. As the industrial revolution happened, as we ran out of room to expand, our society changed significantly. We made a shift from a more agrarian economy to an industrial one. This has its ups and downs, but there are other factors involved that can make things worse. Some of the people seeing this rise during the 1800s considered being wage labor the same thing as slavery. I wish I had the book in front of me right now to give you some names, but these are well known political and economic names. The rise of the corporation and wage labor reduced a person's self-reliance, which was the foundation upon which this country was founded.

Frederick Jackson Turner in there somewhere?

(06-29-2018, 10:29 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: What we see with using undocumented immigrants for labor is nothing more than market capitalism. The corporations are doing it, and so must the littler firms to compete. In order to maximize profits to the best they can, they are going to take advantage of the cheapest and most productive labor source. The issue is that because we are currently in a cycle, like we were in the decades leading to the Great Depression, where our government is too hesitant to regulate business they are turning their focus to the individuals that are, essentially, slaves. That is, if we were to think like those in the lead up to, and in the midst of, the industrial revolution.

The labor movement occurred in the middle of this cycle, fighting to try to make it so wage labor is less comparable to slavery. Child labor laws, the 40 hour work week, time off, safety standards, the list could go on. These are things that the labor movement has given us. Now, most of these have stuck, though we have done some backsliding on a few. But the workplace is hardly ideal as we can see with a large disparity in the increase in productivity and GDP compared to the increase in wages for the workers.

I think that organized labor still has an important role to play in today's society. Is it possible that there should be a reform? I think so. I think that unions should stick to advocating for the workers with their industry groups and employers, not lobbying efforts. That being said, I'm also in favor of changing lobbying laws, so that would affect unions as well. But collective bargaining and organized labor is something that we need in this country if we are to ever hope to turn things around and actually enjoy the successes like we saw in the middle of the 20th century. We're continuing to abandon that formula while advocating for a society similar to it (maybe with less racism, sexism, etc.). That isn't being honest with ourselves in the slightest.

I think that is an understatement. The rollback of unions is one of the primary reasons wages have remained stagnant while productivity has risen.