posted
As I'm reading it (tired and bleery eyed), the Supreme Court was saying that 60+ hours a week was OK as long as you were making the conditions you were working in during those 60 hours more healthy.
I'm not defending their factual conclusion here. It would probably have come out differently today. What people like about the decision is the idea that in a free(r) market society, the optimal economic powers of parties will find an equilibrium without government trying to centrally plan. If you start using pretexts like health and safety to redistribute wealth from one sector of society to another, you are increasing the magnitude of the same problem that brought down socialism.
-------------------- "Warfare is the greatest affair of state, the basis of life and death, the Tao to survivial or extinction. It must be thoroughly pondered and analyzed."
"...attaining one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the pinnacle of excellence. Subjugating the enemy's army without fighting is the true pinnacle of excellence."
-Sun Tzu, The Art of War, 6th century B.C.E.
Registered: May 1999
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posted
Jay: I would label myself a "pragmatic conservative." I see something of value in all strains of it. E.g., traditionalist, religious, neo-, and libertarian conservatisms. As far as I can tell, no camp has gotten the whole picture. But my own reading of it all, the ideas the different camps have implemented have done a better job of making the nation wealthier, more secure, and more able to provide its citizens with the room for self-fulfillment (however you define that) than competing ideologies that typically are grouped in "The Left."
-------------------- "Warfare is the greatest affair of state, the basis of life and death, the Tao to survivial or extinction. It must be thoroughly pondered and analyzed."
"...attaining one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the pinnacle of excellence. Subjugating the enemy's army without fighting is the true pinnacle of excellence."
-Sun Tzu, The Art of War, 6th century B.C.E.
Registered: May 1999
| IP: Logged
posted
Then this comes down to the same old thing, the conservative fear that any attempt at legislating for employee protection is in fact aimed at redistribution of wealth. This is why such a low percentage of service industry workers have any sort of trade union membership, quite often at the behest of the employer. Granted, it doesn't help that all too often trade unions HAVE exhibited more interest in advancing socialist policies when all they really need to do is look out for the welfate of their members a bit better!
quote:Originally posted by Lee: But in this case I'd say there's very little difference between the two. Working 60+ hours a week isn't necessarily healthy; and if the employer requires the worker to do so. . . Shouldn't there be some protection for the employee?
Gee, Republicans are in favor of allowing business to determine how many hours an employee must work to stay employed?
I....i'm shocked that our noble President would side with big business over the working man!
Particularly after all those stump speaches where he talked about making life better for the adverage american!
Shocked, I say! And after he rose to greatness from a poor blue-colar family too...
This is a holdover from waaay back when the robberbarons were de-clawed by the government and basic workers protections were installed. Next thing you know, they'll try to eliminate overtime! How crazy would that be?
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
Lee: socialism is a tendency with most labor unions, but not as much as with American unions. I can't find it, but the colorful example that you see was the president of the AFL-CIO response to a congressman's question of what the unions ultimately wanted: We want more. They never quite embraced socialism like unions did elsewhere in the world.
Snay: thanks! I hope everyone enjoys these debates as much as I do.
-------------------- "Warfare is the greatest affair of state, the basis of life and death, the Tao to survivial or extinction. It must be thoroughly pondered and analyzed."
"...attaining one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the pinnacle of excellence. Subjugating the enemy's army without fighting is the true pinnacle of excellence."
-Sun Tzu, The Art of War, 6th century B.C.E.
Registered: May 1999
| IP: Logged
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