Class Wars
ALLiance Journal recently posted a Utah Phillips quote on class relations. I like that Phillips clarifies that class is based not on income but on whether or not one controls his workplace – the struggle is less about wealth than it is about the freedom to produce it. However, the distinction he makes would seem to place the self-employed outside of the working class. Also, as an old quote, it does not specifically say how to categorize the vast numbers of managers who have command, but not ownership of a workplace but still answer to a boss. The work done in drawing out an Agorist Class Theory might be a useful complement here.
Reason Magazine’s article Class War is certainly a worthwhile read concerning government employees’ privileges that the rest of us are forced to pay for. But I wish it spelled out the differences between unions that operate through government force and unionism in general. By focusing on the damage done by certain unions, the article might leave the inexperienced reader with the impression that any time workers organize they are seeking advantages they don’t deserve at the expense of the general public. And while I certainly don’t want cops or bureaucrats making money, a lengthy article called “class war” that does not address privileged business interests is a little misleading on the nature of current power relations.
Of course, as someone who does not idealize the “free society envisioned by the Founders” as Greenhut does, the inability of the state to keep providing what it has promised is less of a crisis than it is a strategic factor. How can we encourage defections toward a consensual society, and thwart those who want authoritarian privilege to continue?
Whether labeled public or private, rich or poor, the important question for me is “What are you doing in your life, in your situation, to advance the liberty of all individuals?” Subvert authority at every opportunity.
January 15th, 2010 at 10:21 am
“any time workers organize they are seeking advantages they don’t deserve at the expense of the general public.”
To an extent this is true. The “expense to the public” part. Even a voluntary union in a voluntary market can push up prices on lower order goods and/or change the employment structure. A union is going to have more sway then a random group of people and history shows that they can and do throw that weight around. From intimidating scabs or non-union members to exclusive deals with employers or certification agencies. It’s no fundamentally different from how voluntary cartels can effect the customer.
The solution to any issues that could arise with unions are not different from cartels. Freedom of entry into the field and to compete. The difference though is that at the worker level its far more personal than at the business/manufacturing level. Add in government privilege which likely significantly contributes to the building of hierarchy and corruption within unions connected to the state… theres were you get the distrust and dislike of unions being greater then business unions (cartels).
January 15th, 2010 at 1:23 pm
Yes, unions might raise prices, but they can help individuals have a bigger say on the conditions of their labor. The solution, as in most cases, would seem to be explicitly anti-authoritarian enterprises that work for liberty.