Rotten Strikebreakers

Prologue

This is the third blog post in a series on special minorities in our society that have been called all kinds of names and whose members unjustly are viewed as scum or worse or are often accused of terrible things.

I have previously written about the speculator here and the free rider here.

Jack London On Strikebreakers

Although “The Scab” is only attributed to Jack London its content is telling. Here is a quote from the opening of The Scab (emphasis added):

“After God had finished the rattlesnake, the toad, and the vampire, he had some awful substance left with which he made a scab. A scab is a two-legged animal with a corkscrew soul, a water brain, a combination backbone of jelly and glue. Where others have hearts, he carries a tumor of rotten principles. When a scab comes down the street, men turn their backs and Angels weep in Heaven, and the Devil shuts the gates of hell to keep him out” (Source)

One has to add that Jack London is widely considered to have been a Socialist activist. So much for the warmhearted compassion of Socialist activists.

Why Did Employers In The USA Hire Pinkerton To Protect Strikebreaker?

Guess what is one of the picture chosen for the entry on strikebreaker in Wikipedia? It shows Pinkerton agents protecting strikebreakers entering the premises of a company to go to work.

Do strikers or their sympathisers have any right to hinder or worse commit violent or threatening acts against so called strikebreakers? Why did the government run police not protect the strikebreakers?

Do strikebreakers have the right to work for an employer who refuses to negotiate with strikers or labor unions? Of course, they do!

A Civil Society Conceived In Liberty Under The Rule Of Legitimate Law

In such a society the striker and strikebreaker have the same rights, i.e. the striker can refuse to work and the strikebreaker can choose to work. Both have to be non violent at all times!

Why should a person not choose to work for a desirable employer if the opportunity arises.

Strikers can establish their own company or work for another employer if they so choose.

The employer at his/her free will can choose to negotiate or not with strikers or hire strikebreakers.

The role of government is to promote justice by protecting equally the rights of the parties involved and property rights.

One Of The Most Maligned Villains: The Speculator

One Eternal Paradox

It is perhaps one of the great paradoxes of human endeavor, most everyone would like to be a successful speculator at least once in a lifetime, but many humans do not hesitate to scapegoat speculators for so many things that went wrong.

Little Understood By Economists

No wonder Economists have an ambiguous view of speculators: Are they stabilizing or destabilizing markets? Are they myopic or not? Are they driven by a short-term profit motive? Are bubbles caused by speculators, or by the herd mentality of the latecomers? Speculators undoubtedly do fulfill a very important function in Free Markets.

Daring Pioneers Of Free Markets

Speculators are a very special minority and a convenient target. They too enjoy liberty and their pursuit of happiness. They are not more cold hearted than the rest of us.

Speculators come in many shapes and forms. They use their own or someone else’s money or assets to make bets based on calculated risks. They see opportunity when others do not. Many speculators fail and lose their own money. They are like explorers daring to go where few others venture.

A Word Of Gratitude

We all should be thankful to speculators, because frequently they challenge our mistaken conventional wisdoms or our sometimes wishful thinking and subject us to an unpleasant reality check.

The Convenient Abuse Of The Free Rider

A Maligned Minority

Like the speculators or Jews, free riders are often convenient scapegoats or cheap excuses to serve the powerful. In particular big government has a strong tendency to blame such minorities in pursuit of their grand schemes and to impose government control.

The German Word For Free Rider

The German word is “Trittbrettfaher” (literally translated: footboard rider as if riding a tram for free by hanging on the outside of a tram). It also kind of connotes that people step on it with their feet.

Canary In The Coal Mine

The occurrence of free riders should be seen as early warning signs. There is maybe something to be learnt when free riders appear.

More often than not, minorities hold a mirror in front of the majority or those in power. The motivations of free riders are as diverse as anything that humans do. Free riders too enjoy liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Maybe an individual is a free rider with respect to one activity, but not in everything he or she does.

More Competition

I would also argue, in many instances, free riders serve in the interest of more competition and freedom of choice. Free riders incur risks of being resented.

Free Riders And Obamacare

The four liberal Justices on the US Supreme Court, i.e. Justices Ginsburg, Kagan, Sotomayor, and Breyer, surely used the free rider to defend the unconstitutional individual mandate. What a shame!

Who are those free riders of health care? Individuals who pay with credit or cash for any health care they need. Individuals who travel abroad to obtain cheaper health care. Individuals who live a healthy life style. I am sure there are more examples.

To Ban Short Selling Of Financial Assets Is To Be Short Sighted

Clueless About Economics

Politicians, economists, or regulators who favor banning short sales of financial assets have no clue about economics. They certainly have never understood how financial markets operate. Such a ban is like a barometer or measure of fitness for office of any politician or regulator.

Convenient Scapegoats

In the medieval ages we had witches and sorcerers. In the modern age, we have speculators and short sellers. When will the so sophisticated intellectuals, economists, and politicians finally use their brains instead of cheap scapegoating to deflect from own failure.

Free Markets Depend On Speculators & Short Sellers

Speculators and short sellers are essential to price discovery in a free market economy. They are the risk takers and canaries in the financial markets. Many loose their money, only a few are successful. When the few are successful somebody gets hurt, but for a reason.