I don't think production needs to be centralized for this to happen-- it's a variant on Ricardo's Iron Law of Wages/Iron Law of Rent. The theory being that work

I don't think production needs to be centralized for this to happen-- it's a variant on Ricardo's Iron Law of Wages/Iron Law of Rent. The theory being that workers tend towards being paid the bare minimum that they'll put up with being alive and procreating. Now if technology means that it's trivial to give everyone plenty, this may not be "bad," but it wouldn't be exactly egalitarian.