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Slavery is forced labor. I don't see anything forced here. Salaries for unskilled labor are driven down by lack of demand for unskilled labor, and nothing can

Slavery is forced labor. I don't see anything forced here. Salaries for unskilled labor are driven down by lack of demand for unskilled labor, and nothing can be done about that. What can be done is adjusting employees' skills to the areas where demand is still high. Coding bootcamps are one obvious possibility, but there are others. Everyone can learn new things. You, personally, can help these people, too. Hire an Uber (I am sure it helps many people survive; I had my share of tough times, and I'd sure could have use it as some source of income; unfortunately, it was before Uber was a thing where I live). Buy something on Etsy. Spend money locally. Etc, etc.

Al-Khwarizmi 11y ago
If you have to accept a pitiful wage in order to barely subsist, that is effectively forced labor. In practice, the only alternative is to starve. Which is why a labor market without basic income or some other kind of safety net is not a free market at all. Not everyone can learn everything, but even if that were possible, if everyone in the world knew e.g. how to code decently, coding would be a minimum-wage job too. There is just not enough demand for jobs to make everyone valuable, and automation is just making this more pronounced.
- atemerev 11y ago
  This is why world population growth is dramatically slowing down (not exponential, not even linear — it is now sublinear, and expected to stop completely around 2050).
- fche 11y ago
  "a labor market without basic income or some other kind of safety net is not a free market at all" No, you're just redefining "freedom". It does not mean "freedom from consequence from choices". It means "lack of compulsion to make particular choices".
eli_gottlieb 11y ago
>Salaries for unskilled labor are driven down by lack of demand for unskilled labor, and nothing can be done about that. The workers can unionize and strike until their demands are met. Unless, of course, you have something forced, like Pinkertons to beat up striking workers.

Al-Khwarizmi 11y ago

If you have to accept a pitiful wage in order to barely subsist, that is effectively forced labor. In practice, the only alternative is to starve. Which is why a labor market without basic income or some other kind of safety net is not a free market at all. Not everyone can learn everything, but even if that were possible, if everyone in the world knew e.g. how to code decently, coding would be a minimum-wage job too. There is just not enough demand for jobs to make everyone valuable, and automation is just making this more pronounced.

atemerev 11y ago
This is why world population growth is dramatically slowing down (not exponential, not even linear — it is now sublinear, and expected to stop completely around 2050).
fche 11y ago
"a labor market without basic income or some other kind of safety net is not a free market at all" No, you're just redefining "freedom". It does not mean "freedom from consequence from choices". It means "lack of compulsion to make particular choices".

eli_gottlieb 11y ago

>Salaries for unskilled labor are driven down by lack of demand for unskilled labor, and nothing can be done about that. The workers can unionize and strike until their demands are met. Unless, of course, you have something forced, like Pinkertons to beat up striking workers.