[extropy-chat] Re: Minimum wages laws

[The Avantguardian]

In some ways I think a below poverty level minimum
wage is worse than slavery. During slavery, a slave
was coerced to perform labor for someone on threat of
physical punishment or death. But a slave was also
considered to be a valuable commodity. They were
expensive to buy so many slaveowners did not want to
damage a slave to the point where he could no longer
work. Also a slave was given room and board such that
his ability to continue to work was preserved. Thus
almost no slaves were allowed to starve to death
because this would be an inappropriate management of a
slave owner's assets. In this regard, all slaves lived
above the poverty line in the sense that their basic
needs were essentially guaranteed by their owners.   

In comparison, a sub-poverty level worker is also
compelled to perform labor, but not for any one
specific entity. Instead he is forced to work for
anybody willing to pay him what meager wages he can
get. He does not need to fear punishment but is
instead coerced by threat of starvation and death. His
employer is not responsible for his well being and
thus there is no assurance of his basic needs for
food, clothing, or shelter being met. Indeed, the
sub-poverty worker seems to be worse-off than the
slave whilest the sweat-shop owner is better off than
slave owner because he does not need to invest the
overhead in buying the slave in the first place. 

Can somebody show me how this argument is flawed? Is
sweat-shop labor not cheaper for the businesses that
employ it than slaves were for slave owners? Is not a
slave that gets fed, clothed, and housed not better
off than an employee who can't afford these things on
the wgaes he is paid?



The Avantguardian 
is 
Stuart LaForge
alt email: stuart"AT"ucla.edu

"If you fear death, you are not living right; if you don't want to live forever, you are not living well." - a sparrow outside my window.


		
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