I would kindly ask Noah Wiese and Derek Dolezal to check their premises and consider the source of their economic wisdom.

First, capitalism is not the cause of “child labor and 14-hour workdays for starvation wages,” but the eradicator of such conditions. To demonstrate this I will not rely on the wisdom of a physicist, for I find it more relevant to cite the work of economists when discussing economics.

Regarding child labor, I would refer the Solidarity members to T.S. Ashton’s “The Industrial Revolution” for the story of the withering of child labor in capitalist Britain.

Child labor is unnecessary and therefore entirely optional in a capitalist economy because the marginal productivity of labor is increased as the use of capital goods, i.e. machinery, is increased.

Translated into plain English, Daddy makes more money so Junior doesn’t have to work. Also, Daddy’s job, and most jobs that are worth the time of all but the most destitute children, require a much higher degree of skill because of the technicalities involved in running machines. The result: Children can’t do the work and are pushed, naturally, out of the job market. See Ludwig von Mises’ famous work “Human Action,” Chapter 21, “Work and Wages.”

The same argument holds for the number of hours worked in a day. As capitalism advances, “capital” does more of the work and human beings can rest easy. The workday is not increased but lessened.

Also, under capitalism the worker and employer are free to contract for how many hours are to be worked with either side, abstaining where demands are met. This would obviously not be the case in the socialist society envisioned by the members of Solidarity.

Again, I ask the socialists not to misrepresent capitalism and suggest that they start reading up on economics instead of the political philosophies of prominent physicists.

Chris Reardon

Senior

Political Science