Class Dismissed

I'm the innocent bystander
Somehow I got stuck
Between the rock and the hard place
And I'm down on my luck
--Warren Zevon

Lew Rockwell discusses the notion of 'class' based on the recent class action lawsuit vs Wal-mart (WMT) that was dismissed by the Supreme Court.

The notion of class in this context pertains to the view made widespread by the publication of the Communist Manifesto (Marx & Engels, 1848). It posits that the world is composed of various social groups and that these groups are constantly battling each other to gain the upper hand.

Economically, Marx (1867) centered the contest between 'labor' and 'capitalists.' He theorized that capitalists, i.e., those who own the means of production, exploit workers by extracting 'surplus value' from production in a manner that makes capitalists increasingly richer and labor increasingly poorer. (In Marx's theory, this continues until the working class revolts and appropriates the capitalists' property. After a 'dictatorship of the proletariat' phase, then society settles into the Communist version of socialism whereby all are content and earn equal incomes.)

As Rockwell notes, the traction that this theory has gained over the years is strange because it is obviously untrue. There are no homogeneous 'classes' of people acting as monolithic units. Instead there are individuals acting in their own best interests. The class notion is a construct of the mind.

Moreover, when an individual agrees to work for someone else, that individual is not being exploited. Both parties are engaging in mutually beneficial exchange. The exchange is voluntary, and both are free to negotiate the terms of the deal. Both parties can decline to trade, and they are free to associate with whomever they wish.

If a worker was being exploited by an employer, then that worker can walk away and associate with a different employer. If the employer was, say, discriminating against a worker because of age, skin color, gender, et al, then another employer would step in and capitalize on the bigotry by hiring the talent. The bigoted employer therefore operates at a competitive disadvantage.

In unhampered markets, bigoted discrimination is penalized. Bigotry can only persist in hampered markets which, by definition, are created by government intervention.

Rockwell suggests that class action lawsuits are a product of lawyers exploiting a group of people in order to pick deep corporate pockets. Perhaps, but one cannot dismiss the motives of the individuals who sign on as plaintiffs in the 'class.' Because people prefer to satisfy their needs using the least effort possible (a.k.a. the law of parsimony), then they will be prone to engage in activities such as class action lawsuits that allow them to 'get something for nothing.'

The Marxist concept of class can only exist by legislation that pits one group against another. It is a classic example of the State creating a problem that is purports to solve.

no positions

References

Marx, K.H. 1867. Das kapital, Vol 1. Hamburg: O. Meissner.

Marx, K.H. & Engels, F. 1848. The manifest of the Communist Party. London: Burghard.