The Naked Socialist by Paul B Skousen

Author:Paul B Skousen [Skousen, Paul B]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Socialist, Communism & Socialism, Constitution, Unions, Socialism, The Naked Communist, Sean Hannity, W. Cleon Skousen, The Naked Capitalist, Russia, China, Healthcare, Glenn Beck, Communist, Ideologies & Doctrines, Constitutions, Politics & Government, Communism, Political Science, Tea Party, Retail, Ann Coulter, Politics & Social Sciences, Obama
ISBN: 9781630720728
Amazon: B00K0N32ZC
Publisher: Izzard Ink
Published: 2014-08-07T07:00:00+00:00

361 Josiah Warren, Periodical Letter, II (July, 1856), pp. 55-56.

362 This is a paraphrase of Josiah Warren’s quote, “It appeared that it was nature’s own inherent law of diversity that had conquered us...” Ann Caldwell Butler, “Josiah Warren and the Sovereignty of the Individual,” Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. IV, No. 4, Fall 1980.

Chapter 58: Revolutionary: Union Organizers

Circa 1740-2010

After a thousand years of looking for an easier way to make a buck, the guilds finally found traction in the form of trade unions in the 1800s.

One of the intriguing legacies left by the guilds (Chapter 28) is their ingenious strategy of organizing themselves with government control in such a way that other people were not given the fair opportunity to participate or compete. In the free market, competition pushes prices lower and ignites the creation of better quality or new inventions—that’s how a civilization grows. But the guilds had complete control over pricing, availability, value, and quality. They held a firm grip on the market of try, buy, sell, and fail.

The guild system seemed to work pretty well for a while. They became powerful small-business associations, or cartels. Small towns benefitted enormously from their local guilds and zealously protected all the sources of revenue the guilds helped generate. Town leaders passed laws favoring the guilds, and helped them preserve the secrets of their trade—an early form of patent and copyright protection.

Decline of the Guilds

With the passage of time and the growth of populations, the tables turned against the guilds. People started blaming guilds for having too much control, for stifling innovation and business development, for preventing technology from advancing, and practicing a form of nepotism by benefitting only their friends and relatives in other communities. The guilds also ignited fights over sales territory. The fighting and control turned towns against villages and cousins against relatives. It was bad public relations for the guilds, and helped lead to the guild system’s eventual collapse.

Were Guilds Forerunners of the Labor Unions?

Modern scholars debate whether or not there exists a direct connection between guilds and modern trade unions. Whatever the technical definitions are that create such debates, to an outsider it seems fairly clear that guilds led to unions.

Like unions of today, the guilds united craftsmen into what amounted to an exclusive members-only club. For example, with all the skilled shoemakers in a particular region strongly united to create only so many shoes in a week, and demanding a sales price of so much money per shoe, and setting standards of skill so that only so many shoemakers were servicing a population, they could control the shoe market and get rich.

Pro-labor Politicians Not New

That exclusive control across hundreds of crafts and services was further entrenched when pro-guild candidates ran for election. Those who won office carried forward the guilds’ agenda into town hall to pass pro-guild laws: lace sold in this town must be made with locally produced thread; shoes sold in this town must be made of local leather; candles sold in this town must be made with locally produced wax and wicks, etc.

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