13 thoughts on “The Labor Theory Of Value”

  1. Is it really likely that someone who looked for the best offers and was willing to work 40 hours a week would still end up poor?

    1. It’s only one side of the equation. You could work 100 hours a week at decent pay and still be poor if you’re paying off gargantuan student loans, buy a whole bunch of stuff you don’t need and can’t afford, etc.

  2. Yep, Sometimes it’s hard not to feel sorry for people who’re stuck in low paid positions, but ultimately it’s up to them to make the change.

    If you can stay away from climate change and the evils of Islam, I could get to be agreeable all day! 🙂

    1. Rand pays for the bandwidth, and I am grateful for graciously being allowed to express opinions and comments on these threads, not all of them in lock-step agreement with the management. Were I to deem Rand’s points of view to be unacceptable, I would frequent some other Web site, or better yet, come up with the coin for my own blog.

      Where does a person who as a guest, and under an anonymous Web handle, and is offered the opportunity to post/publish/broadcast/express opinions free of charge, and generally speaking, free of moderation let alone registration with this site, get the standing to decide what are appropriate and what are inappropriate views around here?

      And if Rand expresses an opinion or a belief or a point of view or maybe even an understanding of the science contrary to what a person considers acceptable, that person is granted license, not just to express contrary opinions, but to be rude to our host?

      As a matter of fact, you, me, and others on this fine site are granted license, by Rand, to post pretty much whatever we want. And I have followed sites where this has gone on to the point where the comments threads become worthless to follow, not that opposing points of view are expressed, but those points of view become utterly predictable and low entropy in the Shannon and Huffman sense. And I have seen these sites “lock down” postings, sometimes with moderations, but most often with registration “hoops” to participate, and such sites indeed become “echo chambers.”

      1. Your comment is so qualified and self contradictory I’m at a lose as to your point.

        My comment has a happy face because I like and agree with today’s posts.
        I think Rand appreciates diverse opinions in comments.
        My comments probably don’t always measure up to certain quality standards, but I try to add some original content and back up my opinions with rational argument.
        If Rand doesn’t want me commenting here, he only needs to say.
        I doubt the contribution of your above comment is required by anyone, but hey, that’s just my opinion.

    2. “Yep, Sometimes it’s hard not to feel sorry for people who’re stuck in low paid positions, but ultimately it’s up to them to make the change.”

      Or they can continue and if they have children, then one say it’s up the children to the change- or not.
      And considering we have laws requiring children go to school. Damn, it is the fault of the school, ain’t it?

  3. Umm.. most of those “poor” Americans are insanely wealthy compared to the Leave it to Beaver middle class ideal. Of course, “relative poverty” is a treadmill designed to breed perpetual discontent and jealousy.

      1. I wouldn’t go quite that far. There are poor, often mentally ill homeless people in North America. I don’t know anyone who would willingly change places with them.

        1. It would suck to be homeless. It sucks even more to be homeless when the weather drops below minus 40 with alarming regularity. A homeless, mentally ill middle aged man in Edmonton has access to better medical care, better quality food, consistently clean water, a better education, better footwear, and a longer life expectancy than Jaiquin (emperor of China in 1813). Pick any metric you want, and even the poorest of the poor in North America today has it better than the richest of the rich 200 years ago.

          1. if you want to list the poorest of north americans you should look at
            the life of the average mexican impoverished.

        1. Look at the leather and fur coat that guy is wearing. He can afford to smoke. And you have no idea what real poverty is. We are so immersed in technology today we don’t even realize how much things sucked 200 years ago. If the guy in the picture needs a tooth pulled he can go to a free clinic. They will give him anesthetic. What was dentistry like for George III?

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