February 1st, 2007 by
bkmarcus
Apropos today’s article at Mises.org …
Do We Exploit Cheap Immigrant Labor?
Ryan McMaken
Capitalists have never been very popular among anti-immigration activists. It is not uncommon to come across anti-immigration pundits like Lou Dobbs discussing the evils of “corporate America” and its efforts to “exploit cheap labor” at the expense of the American worker. Business owners are not persons with rights, but are instead part of a faceless entity known as “corporate America.” And their businesses do not hire people to perform productive work. Instead, they “exploit” cheap foreign labor. FULL ARTICLE
… here is my cropped presentation of Scott Bieser’s political cartoon on the subject:
His original is consistent with a long-standing tradition of political cartoons, where the illustrator makes sure to label all his visual metaphors. I can’t fault him for centuries of tradition, but I feel like those labels insult my intelligence. Either the metaphor works or it doesn’t. I don’t need it turned into a simile.
Posted in LvMI, economics, language, philosophy | 
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February 1st, 2007 by
bkmarcus
Today’s word from A.W.A.D:
dragoon (druh-GOON) verb tr.
To force someone to do something; coerce.
[From French dragon (dragon, to dragoon).]
This is a good example of how a term transferred from an object to a people to an action. Originally it referred to the firearms, either from the fact that they breathed fire like a dragon or from the shape of the pistol hammer. Eventually it began to be applied to a European cavalryman armed with a carbine. Today the term is used in the sense of forcing someone to do something against his or her will.
As a friend said this morning, “It’s a good synonym for libertarians to know.”
Posted in language | 1 Comment »
