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[Thomas <thomas AT tbeckett.com>]

Tony Spencer wrote:
> I'm hiring my first employees for my fledgling company as we speak.  

Congratulations, Tony!  That is a huge step.

> Its
> exciting for me to contribute to someone's salary and are my employees are
> being screwed?  Absolutely not.

This is the interesting thing about Capitalism.  Marx is correct here, 
Tony is hiring someone because he can make more money from their labor 
than he is paying them.  Extracting value.  But he is paying a fair 
wage?  Ostensibly yes, according to the market.  Question is, is the 
market wage distorted by a) oversupply of labor ("jobless recovery") or 
b) Tony's unfair bargaining power?  I can't answer the first, I think 
the answer to the second is negative.  This is why small business is the 
foundation of our economy.

OTOH, does Wal-mart pay its "associates" a fair wage?  Let's see, 
Wal-Mart employs more people than the population of some sovereign 
nations or U.S. states.  But only one Wal-mart store has a collective 
bargaining agreement.

Oh wait, I said I'd go to bed.

TaB