Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

phantom power

(25,966 posts)
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 12:57 PM Apr 2013

"human life and dignity are drearily cheap on the open market"

I have this argument with libertarian friends all the time. We already know what a society without regulations and govt "interference" looks like. It looks like child labor, factory fires, debtors prisons, food poisoning, people dying while "treating" themselves with products purchased from snake oil salesmen, bank runs, etc...

But they always have some reason to believe that the great libertarian experiments of history weren't quite right, and This Time It Will Be Different.

In order for conservative economics to work, it must be assumed that everyone has an abundance of choices as well as the information needed to make the proper choice. In the conservative worldview, businesses will automatically move in to fill every need in the marketplace at the highest price they can extract; consumers will carefully choose from among the products on offer, buying the best products offered for the lowest price; employees will find the companies that deliver them the best payment package and quality of life according to their skills sets; and companies will hire the best workers they can at the lowest wages they can.

All of this is supposed to be a beautiful system of free choice in which every product, service, and employee achieves its perfect value on the market, and in which every employee, consumer and business is free to make the choice that best befits their lifestyle and comfort with risk. If government simply steps out of the way and ceases to create "distortions" in the market, everything will be perfect. There will be no inflation, and any misery or failure will be solely attributable to the poor choices of those who are suffering.

There are, of course, innumerable problems with this worldview: not everyone has access to the information needed to make good choices; the amount of time needed to acquire said information is a time and energy cost that makes it not worth attaining; many people can be compelled or deceived into making poor "choices"; prejudice and other social ills can create inequities that betray market meritocracy; the rational actor system is unable to solve long-term problems like climate change for which consumer punishment is wholly inadequate; systems of taxpayer-funded services such as firefighters, roads and street lights would either cease to function, or only function in wealthy areas; and so on.

But the biggest problem with this worldview is the failure to recognize that human life and dignity are drearily cheap on the open market. Absent laws to prevent such exploitation, the open market looks like Dickensian England: abundant child labor, eighty hour work weeks, mass immiseration, horrific discrimination, and a host of other evils. It turns out that consumers don't much care how a product was made so long as it works, and businesses are more than happy to institute revolting practices in order to create even more decadent wealth for owners and investors. Contrary to social conservative claims, there is no amount of religious fervor or charitable giving that even makes a dent in the horror of purely market-driven economics.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/we-can-choose-that-workers-not-die-in.html
1 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
"human life and dignity are drearily cheap on the open market" (Original Post) phantom power Apr 2013 OP
If you look into Newest Reality Apr 2013 #1

Newest Reality

(12,712 posts)
1. If you look into
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 01:15 PM
Apr 2013

"harvesting" you will see that we are extremely valuable to the medical establishment, middle men, etc.

Most of us are worth far more dead, should we be harvested, (and some companies now offer free pick-up, cremation, and delivery if you sign-up).

The greatest irony of all, is that my body is undoubtedly worth more dead than alive. In America, once a cadaver has been disarticulated into about 60 different tissues, the body parts are processed and made into medical products, which together are worth up to $250,000 on the open market. Some companies are listed on major stock exchanges – this is no niche market.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/13/body-worth-more-dead-alive

But, they are working on it and we, being somewhat like sophisticated cattle or merely commodities, may continue to be worth more as we are recycled, rather than wasted after working ourselves to death and dropping:



The future is exciting and very lucrative ... after you die, that is.
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»"human life and dignity a...