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Lets say I am injured and urgently need medical attention and you are the only doctor that I have access to. You quote your price which is signing away all my w
by akudha 6y ago
Lets say I am injured and urgently need medical attention and you are the only doctor that I have access to. You quote your price which is signing away all my wealth to you, immediately. I have no choice but to agree. Is that fair?
That is an extreme example, to get the point across. These workers didn't agree to your offer of $1 out of choice, they agreed because they have no other option. This is where governments need to step in and create laws and regulations so a small group of people do not screw the majority of the population.
We do not live in a jungle where the strong survive the weak starve. Not everything should be tied to supply and demand. A huge portion of jobs done by humans today will be done by robots soon (for example, truck driving). What happens then? You don't pay even that $1, because you don't even need humans at that point to drive your trucks. You just let millions of truck drivers starve? These are not pure economics problems, these are societal problems. If not handled correctly and early, we'd have bloody revolutions on our hands.
- koonsolo 6y agoI like a free market economy. If you like a more planned economy, I think there are only a few examples left in the world. But I'm sure you can emigrate there and see how it works out.
- akudha 6y agofree market economy doesn't mean no rules. Saying "leave if you don't like it here" is a poor argument. I am not sure you want to debate in good faith?
- koonsolo 6y agoI didn't say that. If you have a free market, you don't have the lockins described above. So you a market where people decide whether to do business or not.
- TheRealSteel 6y agoOh YOU like a free market economy, so it's okay to enslave people in third world countries. As long as YOU'RE happy. How about we cut your pay to 70 cents per hour and see if you still like it?
- koonsolo 6y agoThen I just go work for somebody else. It's pretty simple.
- JaimeThompson 6y agoWhat, if any, interventions should government provide in a free market economy?
- galvin 6y agoMassive bailouts are fine apparently. I'm sure the cyclical recessions that require repeated government intervention are because free market economy isn't free enough. Any notions to the contrary can only be communist.
- christophilus 6y agoWhat free market economy do you like best? I live in the US, and we have a minimum wage, safety regulations, mandatory breaks, etc. We’re generally considered wildly free market compared to most of the developed world, but we’re still a far cry from a totally free market because we acknowledge that people have certain rights, and the government is the guarantor that those rights aren’t trampled by sociopaths. We don’t do a perfect job at it— not even close— but I think things would be much worse for the average worker here without some of that regulation.
- jimsparkman 6y agoThat view is missing human consideration, however, and is a cynical take. People in those non-free economies you speak of simply do not have the choice and can not just choose to emigrate to a free market at will. We must have some constraints to protect those who cannot protect themselves.
- 5560675260 6y ago> I have no choice but to agree. Another option is to refuse and leave wealth to your descendants. Even with an example this extreme I don't see what's unfair here. Why is the onus of provided high wage jobs in India is on Apple? Why would it be preferable to regulate it and potentially drive Apple to another country, leaving those workers without any jobs at all?