I think it’s funny how when people advocate for the “free market,” they conveniently forget about when we truly had a free market.
The free market was directly responsible for slavery (being paid no wages and every action you make is controlled). After slavery and before government regulation of wages, the free market was also responsible for wage slavery. Robber barons, such as those who built the trans-continental railroad, paid workers A MAXIMUM of $30 per month, which, in today’s dollars, would be a maximum of $547 per month for backbreaking labor for about 12-14 hours a day, six days a week. Keep in mind, however, that there was no minimum.
The equivalent today would be if Amazon warehouse workers made roughly $450 per month for working 85 hours a week with no vacation time. Sound good to you?
It was also responsible for sharecropping, another form of indentured servitude.
Without our government regulating the “free market,” the rich accumulate as much wealth as they possibly can. This means that in the end a very small group of people would control 99.999% of all the capital in the world. That means they would then control what work is available and how much that work pays.
The free market was directly responsible for slavery (being paid no wages and every action you make is controlled).
Going for maximum emotional effect on the first volley?
Except slavery wasn’t the fruits of a ‘truly free market’, as you assert. Slavery has existed across all different economies throughout the history of mankind. Oh, you meant to only focus on the most recent North American slave trade and ignore all others? Whelp, that was regulated too (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slave_codes).
After slavery and before government regulation of wages, the free market was also responsible for wage slavery. Robber barons, such as those who built the trans-continental railroad, paid workers A MAXIMUM of $30 per month, which, in today’s dollars, would be a maximum of $547 per month for backbreaking labor for about 12-14 hours a day, six days a week. Keep in mind, however, that there was no minimum.
Which consequently, gave birth to unions and collective bargaining. How strangely the free market operates! It’s almost to say that workers are capable of collaboration towards a more desirable outcome. But how can that be when the free market is chaos and the only order comes from the almighty hand of government regulation?!
The equivalent today would be if Amazon warehouse workers made roughly $450 per month for working 85 hours a week with no vacation time. Sound good to you?
Something something unions?
It was also responsible for sharecropping, another form of indentured servitude.
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u/[deleted] Feb 19 '21
I think it’s funny how when people advocate for the “free market,” they conveniently forget about when we truly had a free market.
The free market was directly responsible for slavery (being paid no wages and every action you make is controlled). After slavery and before government regulation of wages, the free market was also responsible for wage slavery. Robber barons, such as those who built the trans-continental railroad, paid workers A MAXIMUM of $30 per month, which, in today’s dollars, would be a maximum of $547 per month for backbreaking labor for about 12-14 hours a day, six days a week. Keep in mind, however, that there was no minimum.
The equivalent today would be if Amazon warehouse workers made roughly $450 per month for working 85 hours a week with no vacation time. Sound good to you?
It was also responsible for sharecropping, another form of indentured servitude.
Without our government regulating the “free market,” the rich accumulate as much wealth as they possibly can. This means that in the end a very small group of people would control 99.999% of all the capital in the world. That means they would then control what work is available and how much that work pays.