• SlopppyEngineer@discuss.tchncs.de
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    1 year ago

    It’s basic game theory and a race to the bottom. They either come together to set a bottom, do it by threat of violence or by law.

    Game theory pay workers less pay workers more
    Go easy on workers outcompeted outcompeted
    Squeeze workers profit outcompeted
    • Doubledee [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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      1 year ago

      Right, people miss this but its literally one of the basic ideas of capitalist production. Mom and Pop might be nice people but the market WILL destroy them if they don’t participate in the most cutthroat practices to stay competitive. Forces are at play that supercede the morality of any actor.

      • FaeDrifter
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        1 year ago

        That’s not all there is to it, it depends on labor supply as well. When there’s a labor shortage, capitalists need to compete for labor, so labor standards rise, because laborers can be picky about who they work for.

        Of course, with globalization, automation, and AI, the value of labor is ever decreasing. Add to that, people need to work to cover their basic needs, so if there’s a labor surplus, they will take literally the most abusive underpaid work just so they won’t starve to death.