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The idea that slavery is a free lunch that is only banned on moral grounds is wrong. Slavery is bad economics. If you want your economy to grow, paying workers
by slibhb 5mo ago
The idea that slavery is a free lunch that is only banned on moral grounds is wrong.
Slavery is bad economics. If you want your economy to grow, paying workers is not bad. Economic growth isn't zero sum.
- somelamer567 5mo agoCapitalists are selfish, and have short planning horizons. For a capitalist, slavery is absolutely rational. The only reason why they don't do it today is because it's illegal.
- slibhb 5mo agoSelfish capitalists want to accumulate capital and grow the economy. Slavery is a bad strategy for achieving these ends. There is ample historical evidence of this, and it also lines up with mainstream economic theory. People who argue otherwise simply cannot escape their zero-sum worldview.
- Nasrudith 5mo agoWhich is why it was the pseudoaristocraric south which provided the main source of abolitionists and the first to abolish it. Is what I would say in opposite world.