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To: NewRomeTacitus
"And no matter how many hours we worked, we were only paid for a 40-hour week."

Pointing out that the set of labor laws in the United States came into existence for a reason: to set the rules of the economic game. What's unique about the United States is that it was one of the only places on earth where the participants in the game had a say in the rules. And so things like limited work weeks were passed into law. And low immigration, so that the competetive environment was muted, on the very good theory that if you'd like to have a strong "nation", and an industrial one at that, you have to have some labor security.

All of which this guy is helping to undermine, at the hands of corrupt employers cheating at the game.

Lotta "conservatives" hereabouts will say this is leftist labor rhetoric. Could be. But if their brand of "conservatism" includes a regression to industrial revolution conditions - 18 hr work days, child labor, forced labor, for example - then it's merely a reversion to monarchism, because serfdom always depended on monarchist violence. And such a situation won't last long in a democratic republic - like ours.

So choose your poison, exploitation monarchists: confiscatory taxes at the hands of angry serfs, or a reasonable set of labor laws that are respected, and strike a balance between capital and labor interests in a free society.

12 posted on 08/12/2004 8:34:15 AM PDT by Regulator
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To: Regulator
Lotta "conservatives" hereabouts will say this is leftist labor rhetoric. Could be. But if their brand of "conservatism" includes a regression to industrial revolution conditions - 18 hr work days, child labor, forced labor, for example - then it's merely a reversion to monarchism, because serfdom always depended on monarchist violence. And such a situation won't last long in a democratic republic - like ours.

I'm glad you brought this up. There are thousands of employers that look for illegals to hire, because they can exploit them. 5 bucks an hour for framing houses? How much would a legitimate contractor pay an American citizen or legal resident for the same work? Not only is illegal labor not getting taxed, I'm sure these contractors have 2 sets of books, but how about how the absurdly low wages affect all jobs? Everyone ends up working for less.

Employers who target illegals and exploit them, should be thrown in prison. Besides tax evasion and a host of other crimes, they are causing damage to our society.

19 posted on 08/12/2004 9:07:37 AM PDT by TheSpottedOwl ("In the Kingdom of the Deluded, the Most Outrageous Liar is King".)
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