[ExI] Social right to have a living

[Damien Sullivan]

On Mon, May 30, 2011 at 02:18:09PM -0600, Kelly Anderson wrote:
> On Mon, May 30, 2011 at 1:44 PM, Damien Sullivan

> > I note a difference between "becoming rich" and "becoming rich
> > ethically".
> 
> OK. I can buy that, but I'd like a little more insight into what you
> think is unethical. To me, the following are unethical
> 
> - Being on top of a pyramid scheme
> - Slavery
> - Using brutality to coerce workers (think Chinese prison labor)
> - Abusing the environment
> - Using religion unethically (think building the pyramids)
> - Wasting natural resources unnecessarily (we may ALL be doing this to
> some extent)
> - Doing things at the expense of coming generations (think massive
> multi-generational debt)
> - Breaking the law (hiring illegal aliens)
> - Using drugs on employees (Nasa, Military)
> - Bribery (think getting government contracts)

Hey, we can agree on a lot.

> The following things are NOT unethical
> 
> - Child labor (where the children choose to work)
I think this is more problematic, given the ability of children to make
an informed choice about work vs. education, and the possibility of
parental exploitation.  Pace John Holt, this 'freedom' should come only
with a bunch of other liberties or protections for children.

> - Hiring huge amounts of labor at market prices (some call this
> exploiting the masses)

Note "market price" depends on the alternative opportunities available
to the masses, which may in turn be constrained by previous unethical
behavior.  Hiring landless workers at market prices, workers who are
landless because they were kicked off their land by others, seems like a
problematic grey area.  You may not be doing anything directly wrong
yourself, but the whole system is messed-up and you're profiting from
injustices.  Like, hrm, buying stolen goods.  You didn't steal them,
but...

> - Taking advantage of the benefits acquired through culture, history,
> education and relations.
> - Networking (it's not what you know, but who)

How about profiting from benefits and networking derived from racial
prejudice?

Networking can seem innocent on the surface, but the counterpart is the
reduced ability of those not in the old boys' (say) network to have the
same opportunities.  "With hard work and your parents knowing the right
people anyone can get ahead!"  The solutions aren't obvious to me but
dismissing the concern doesn't seem right either.

-xx- Damien X-)