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To make matters far worse, the government subsidizes low-wage employers with the income based social programs in place, and tampers with supply to keep wages in
by jlbnjmn 6y ago
To make matters far worse, the government subsidizes low-wage employers with the income based social programs in place, and tampers with supply to keep wages in check.
We have nothing close to a free market for labor. Unfortunately, it's called a free market, and so people think the market is ineffective.
Construction was a high paying job until unrestricted labor drove down wages. (Unenforced labor laws meant contractors hiring illegal workers could undercut bids. No payroll taxes, no workman's comp insurance, no chance of legal companies competing.)
Fair wages depend on fair markets, and the labor market at the lower income end of the spectrum is anything but fair.
- aabeshou 6y agoI sort of agree with this on the condition that "tampering with supply to keep wages in check" includes union-busting. If unions and other forms of labor power were not suppressed by a government owned by Capital, then we would have a chance to see the "free market" potentially arrive at some of the same outcomes that socialists seek, such as worker co-ownership of firms and fair profit distribution. However, it's a bit paradoxical because one of the mechanisms by which these changes would occur is by labor power overturning a lot of the rules of capitalism. A system which did not allow this to happen would still be unjust, supporting the status quo through its so-called laissez-faire neutrality.