Posted on 05/14/2012 8:28:30 AM PDT by ProgressingAmerica
I've seen plenty written about how minimum wage laws were a tool of progressives and believers in eugenics 100 years ago, but far too often we are left hanging without direct quotes. Written by Henry R Seager in 1913, "The Minimum Wage as Part of a Program for Social Reform" will have a certain familiarity, if you have read up on eugenics in America. It starts on page 3, ends on page 12. For those who may not be aware of it, Seager is who wrote the book that laid the groundwork for social security. Cute, eh? Here's what he wrote in the essay:
More important, however, than these immediate benefits would be the long run influence of the change on the ability of wage-earners to secure better conditions through their own efforts. Protected from the wearing competition of the casual worker and the drifter, wage-earners in every industry would find it easier to organize to demand better conditions. The greater health and vigor of the whole wage-earning population would lead to more persistent and more intelligent participation in all the movements of the day. The tone of our political life would be elevated and invigorated and we should be better able to grapple with those great economic and social problems that concern not only wage earners but all of us. This is the answer to critics of the minimum wage who object that it is merely negative and that it does not go far enough. If it goes far enough to contribute to the health and vigor of the masses of our citizenship, it must react beneficially upon all the important movements of the day.
Oh, it goes far enough. If you happen to be a regular reader, you're probably sick(as I am) of hearing this repeated slogan from progressives regarding what does or does not "go far enough". Enough is never enough for these people, keep "it doesn't go far enough" in mind as you read. Above, is the closing of the essay, the content is much more specific:(Page 9)
Just as there are special schools in the public school system for children who are backward with their books, so there must be developed industrial and trade schools for young persons who are so backward in their work that they cannot command even the minimum wages which the law prescribes. And it will not be enough to provide such schools. Young persons incapable of adequate self support and without independent resources will have to be assisted while they are taking advantage of them. Moreover, if on completing the course they are still unable to earn an adequate living, they will have to be treated as defectives for whom still further measures must be taken. If their defects are of a sort that render them entirely harmless members of the community they may be given licenses to work for less than the minimum wage required for normal persons. If there are reasons for isolating them from contact with others then they must be sent to farm or industrial colonies where they will be considerately and humanely cared for but under conditions that prevent them from inflicting injury on others. Critics of the minimum wage sometimes speak of this necessity which the plan presents of making special provision for the unemployable as if it were a new problem. It is not a new problem
Of course, all of this will require a huge massive government. New licences, schools, and isolation camps are not something that families do. And of course, we can't leave out the usual call for sterilization: (Page 10)
One important part of the program with reference to those who are defective from birth is to prevent that monstrous crime against future generations involved in permitting them to become the fathers and mothers of children who must suffer under the same handicap. If we are to maintain a race that is to be made up of capable, efficient, and independent individuals and family groups we must courageously cut off lines of heredity that have been proved to be undesirable by isolation or sterilization of the congenitally defective.
And with respect to putting together minimum wage laws and eugenics, he does this himself:
Michigan has just passed an act requiring the sterilization of congenital idiots. This may seem somewhat remote from the minimum wage but such a policy judiciously extended should make easier the task of each on-coming generation which insists that every individual who is regularly employed in the competitive labor market shall receive at least a living wage for his work. We cannot continue to increase the sums we spend for the care of congenital defectives in consequence of our failure to prevent them from becoming the parents of more congenital defectives without encroaching on the expenditures we ought to make for the better education and training of the normal children of normal citizens.
Doesn't go far enough? Progressives always go too far. Government must always remain limited, so that the people can always be free.
bkmk
Sounds like: “Lenin’s Lenny Law”
Vladamir Lenin + Lenny from of Mice and Men + Law = Tyranny.
Poor Lenny never stood a chance.
For those who wish to focus on the "tool" of minimum wage legislation, the writings of Dr. Hans Sennholz may be helpful. Sennholz died in 2007, but his credentials as an economic scholar, professor, writer, and educator qualify him as an authority on this subject and many more related topics. Review his record, and a short article here.
A much more comprehensive history of the subject, however, which includes Dr. Sennholz's research and conclusions on minimum wage considerations is available in his 1983 article here.
The article is entitled: "Minimum Wage: How political attempts to boost wages tend to harm those most apt to be unemployed." by Hans F. Sennholz - In The Freeman/Ideas on Liberty, May 1983, pp. 270-281
His concluding paragraph::
"But the most vociferous support of minimum wage legislation comes from the professional spokesmen of the poor. Some may actually welcome unemployment among minorities because it breeds other political and economic effects and, above all, creates a political power base for the minority champions. When jobs are scarce they are likely to be rationed and allocated according to government plans and programs. Rationing bestows benefits to political constituents and thus confers prestige and power to the program proponents.* O Some are also aware that unemployment tends to give rise to new demands for radical government intervention, for central control and planning, which may pave the way for an all-round political command system, called socialism. Mass unemployment, they are hoping, will lead voters to support their ultimate objective."
Remember, this was written in the Year 1983. Yet, the so-called "progressive" movement has succeeded in taking America hostage to its views, destroying our once-vibrant manufacturing industries, and along with it, the freeedom and opportunity which youth and those most impacted by their self-serving vision have wrought upon this Republic.
They have been at this for a very long time.
It would appear that Sennholz was a voice in the wilderness giving us a warning, it’s no wonder that he’s been largely erased. One could swear that Keynes was the only real economist who ever existed, with how often you hear his name.
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