Old 04-06-2021, 11:52 AM
  #14  
FXLAX
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Joined APC: Nov 2017
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Default UALPA Turning Organized Labor on it's Head

Originally Posted by FollowMe View Post
Pilots have always been a perplexing group to study on whole, seemingly fueled by a mixture of coffee and cognitive dissonance. On the one hand we (by and large as a group) make a comfortable living thanks to collective bargaining, yet on the other hand overwhelmingly support political candidates who are downright toxic to labor struggle, typically backed up by dropping buzzwords like "capitalism" and with a healthy dose of American Exceptionalism. Never mind the fact that Adam Smith, the father of American economics, held the Labor Theory of Value as foundational to his economic principles. For those that don't know the Labor Theory of Value implies that value can only be created by imparted labor (e.g. a chunk of gold buried in the ground is worthless until labor is imparted to it, namely someone digging it out and cleaning it up). I only bring Smith up to demonstrate how little understanding of economics, and in particular the history of American economic theory, most pilots possess. I'm happy to discuss economic theory, however that is not the main topic of my bewilderment here. At issue is that this most recent crisis has seemingly pushed pilots beyond even a mere air of contempt towards labor while benefitting from it's vehicles and principles, to actively rearranging the entire concept of relationships between labor and the businesses it supports.
I don’t have a specific position on what UALALPA did or did not do. But since you brought up this labor theory and an example, it piqued my curiosity.

I understand your example about gold not being worth anything until a human digs it out and cleans it. But what if the gold is thousands of feet in the ground and not 100% pure, and so no group of laborers can dig it out. So someone who can afford to buy or build the machine(s) that can dig that far down takes the risk that there may be gold there and pure enough for it to be worthwhile takes that risk and puts forth the capital to buy or manufacture the machine plus the capital to hire labor to work the machine. In that labor theory, is the labor the only thing that gave that gold value? Would labor have a job if it wasn’t for the person with the capital and willingness to take the risk to use their capital? In other words, is it a one way street where labor is 100% credited with the value or is there a symbiotic relationship in which both the ones who provide the labor and the ones who provide the capital contribute to the value of the gold and the only question is the negotiating capital between the two sides as to the share in the value? Can a laborer without capital make value for himself on the work he does for himself? Would he be paying himself? And if so, he would be working for free since he has no capital. If he is providing a service, then his client is providing the capital for which to pay him for the value of his service. Anything in this theory without capital seems like would be the equivalent to a perpetual motion machine.
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