| Industrialization happened first and fastest in places that adhered to classical liberal values. And after industrialization, over the course of the 20th century, the most free market economies again saw the greatest gains per capita income and quality of life. >>The peons had to get gunned down by the Pinkertons so we could get sane working hours, conditions, and fair pay. Thank god for the weekend? No, thank unions. The unions murdered workers that crossed the picket line, or "scabs" as the socialists called them. Pinkertons were sent in to remove these violent illegal blockaders. Once the unions succeeded in their cause, with exactly the kind of false narratives you're putting forth here, industrial expansion slowed, and eventually we entered into the current era of stagnation. Case in point: Detroit. Detroit was the wealthiest city in the US in 1950, with the highest per capita GDP in the country. Over the course of the 1950s, 60s and 70s, the UAW union took over, with membership eventually peaking in 1978. What followed was industrial collapse, and eventually, Detroit becoming a ghost town. Unions are not good for labor at large, just the labor that is on the winning side of the zero sum rent extraction scheme. |