Labor, Liberty and Modern Slavery

We are hearing the crowd of strong union supporters gathered in Michigan yelling that, “we are what democracy is all about.” And then you see violence break out.  This is because these minions are acting according to the definition of actions that occur in a democracy – violent anarchy.  They have lost the reality of the Truth – The United States is a Constitutional Republic. 

The concepts of Labor and Liberty are deeply and Biblically inter-related and for me to present a perspective, a Biblical perspective, will require more than the five hundred to a thousand words that a blog should be managed at.  With that and because I live by the Axiom of Ecclesiastes 1:9 & 10 –

9.  The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

10.  Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.

I will defer shortly to an article written in 1978 and published again in 1987 that summarizes what I would have written here in detail.  When one studies the history of economics, which is mostly humanistic in its philosophical perspective, one sees that even those sympathetic to socialism were wary of Unions and the destructive results they could have to a business, the economy and even the government.

The first area to address in this discussion is that of a persons talents and associated ability to engage in labor - is a ‘gift’ from God and is granted as ones personal property such that each individual is responsible for the sovereign use of this gifting.  The reality that mankind, for the most part, does not recognize that we are not the final authority in the universe and that we are to be stewards over our talents, resources as well as the rest of the world as God’s agents on earth.  As representative agents we have the rights to that which is granted by Grace.  No other person has a right to take what is rightfully ours. Only by some agreeable means of negotiated exchange can the ownership of property be transferred from one person to another.  Hence, what we produce or what we develop as a business owner is the property of the individual or business.  If the businessperson needs other skilled individuals to participate in the production of a product or service then they must find an agreeable exchange for the skills to accomplish the businesses objective.

In essence, the two parties contract for the mutual benefit of accomplishing the businesses objective but that does not mean that the value of that contract is in any manner equal.  The reality is that the businessperson is taking the risk to establish the business, commit to and invest the capital, bring forth the intellectual property ideas and ensures that all the underlying cost are covered, etc.  For this risk they should be and must be compensated at the highest percentage of the income from the product or service otherwise they have no incentive to take all the risk.  On the other hand, the person that is contracted to contribute their skill to the product or service can always go somewhere else and engage again in a contract with a competitor or another business that would contract for their skills.

Yet as we will see in the article linked here, “The Morals and Economics of Labor Unions” the modern unions act, especially from the leadership management perspective, as a coercive collection of class warfare bigots.  The union members are modern day slaves by virtue of mandatory dues and threats of job loss and the companies that are unionized are slaves to the threat of strikes or other retaliations in the market.  The statistics are compelling and overwhelming as to the transition of useful trade guilds, both public and private sector, into political Thugs that negatively affect the overall economy.

The legislative actions being taken in states like Michigan are not removing the opportunity of true negotiations for those that want to be represented in a group like a union.  The legislation is returning the ‘freedom’ of individuals to be removed from the modern day slavery of coercion and regaining their right of association and contracting for the skills they bring to a free market, even as employees of the public as a ‘public servant’.

Well, I confess that there have been great minds that have come before me who can articulate what I’ve studied in a very affective way.  So I will ask pastors, church leaders and yes, congregants to read the article by the Rev. Francis Mahaffy written in 1978 and published again in the 1987 ‘s - ‘Bible Economics Today’ Vol. X, No. 6 .  Rev. Mahaffy knew his economic history and related it effectively to what every Christian should and Must understand regarding labor unions even in the 21^st Century.  Please read the pdf available at http://www.garynorth.com/freebooks/docs/2976_43e.htm