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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   28190 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of September 23, 2024

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It's in every worker's interest to become part of a monopoly on labor so they can force pay above market equilibrium.

It's not in my interest now. It wasn't in my interest when I did factory work either. I've never had a job where I perceived it to be in my interest.

Did it never occur to you that earning more money for doing the same work would be better for you?

Sure. I'd also like a pony, and to rob banks and shoot it out with the police without all the pesky bleeding and screaming and dying. Sadly, reality intrudes.

When I observe unionized workplaces, I see inefficiency, doors closed to good workers, and economic failure. By contrast, the workplaces I've observed that were most efficient, dynamic and productive were, as a rule, not unionized. I like being able to find a job by demonstrating positive value to a prospective employer offering what I consider a reasonable wage, without then having to persuade a second group of people who believe that they have a direct economic interest in keeping me unemployed.

Have you ever ever obtained any sort of credential with a barrier to entry that enabled you to do specialized, abnormally renumerative work? If so, that's exactly the sort off thing I'm talking about. Unions are only one of many ways to obtain a labor monopoly.

Have you ever ever obtained any sort of credential with a barrier to entry that enabled you to do specialized, abnormally renumerative work?

I got a forklift certification once. Does that count as a "labor monopoly"? I think I'm pretty glad that forklift operators are required to undergo safety training and a comprehension and skills test, but I'm not sure what that has to do with unions.

Other than the forklift certification, no, I've never gained any credential of the sort you describe.

If you got the forklift certification because you expected to make more money-- because the pool workers legally allowed to do jobs involving forklifts is artificially constrained by the certification process-- then you've benefited from the same economic mechanism unions do.

Morally, you're free to make a distinction between getting a forklift certification versus forming an insulin cartel or shutting down imports across the country to get $2 more an hour. But mechanically and economically, it's the same sort of behavior guided by the same sorts of incentives.

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