Dear lord. I don’t think I can stomach that read, but when I hear people (Americans really) bitch about government regulations, this is the kind of bullshit that comes to mind and makes me boil…
Back in the day, a Socialist named Upton Sinclair wrote a novel called “The Jungle.” It was about the terrible conditions in the Chicago slaughterhouses.
It caused a lot of people to stop buying processed meat.
The meat packers got together and demanded the government step in.
We got food regulations because the processors wanted to keep making money.
Yeah, the way to change work conditions is strikes, nothing else really helps. But it works for the exact same reason the book did - because if workers are striking they can’t make money, so they agree to work regulations so they can keep profiting.
That was me when I read the book the best democracy money can Buy and it got to the section on the slaughter house industry. Self regulation is best regulation…
The Radium Girls book was pretty good, recommend reading it if you haven’t already.
Dear lord. I don’t think I can stomach that read, but when I hear people (Americans really) bitch about government regulations, this is the kind of bullshit that comes to mind and makes me boil…
Back in the day, a Socialist named Upton Sinclair wrote a novel called “The Jungle.” It was about the terrible conditions in the Chicago slaughterhouses.
It caused a lot of people to stop buying processed meat.
The meat packers got together and demanded the government step in.
We got food regulations because the processors wanted to keep making money.
And he wrote it to emphasize the terrible working conditions but everyone, instead, went, “Ew, I’m eating that??”
Great book. More relevant today than ever.
Yeah, the way to change work conditions is strikes, nothing else really helps. But it works for the exact same reason the book did - because if workers are striking they can’t make money, so they agree to work regulations so they can keep profiting.
That was me when I read the book the best democracy money can Buy and it got to the section on the slaughter house industry. Self regulation is best regulation…
Or if you prefer podcasts over reading then this is a fantastic episode:
https://timharford.com/2023/12/cautionary-tales-how-the-radium-girls-fought-back/