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Not sure I agree - total profits and living standards have both gone up drastically since slavery was abolished, and went up faster and farther in countries tha
by epivosism 6y ago
Not sure I agree - total profits and living standards have both gone up drastically since slavery was abolished, and went up faster and farther in countries that abolished slavery earlier.
Thinking that slavery is profit-maximizing is very zero-sum, and disproven by history. Actual profit maximization over time involves lots of freedom and choices for individuals participating in capitalism.
- epivosism 6y agoMap of the timeline of the abolition of slavery - clear link between current prosperity and the time of abolition: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Slavery_abolition.svg/2560px-Slavery_abolition.svg.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Sl... The outliers (Saudi Arabia 1962, despite current wealth) are due to resource extraction, not truly positive sum freedom + capitalism.
- CryptoPunk 6y agoYes, I meant in the short-term, in the context of a single firm being able to practice it, and how it would affect its profit margins. In the long run both wage maximization and profit maximization aligns with social utility maximization, which we achieve through the establishment of a free market where all interactions are mutually voluntary.