You make some good points about labor unions. On one hand, a voluntary association is intrinsically moral, and it could be a force for positive good.
I don't know if you've read it or not, but Henry Hazlitt's "Economics in one lesson" is a great book. [1]
One of the chapters covers unions and he shows how economically they cannot in the end benefit workers. However, even if they are inefficient or foolish, workers have a right to form associations. Its just that employers have a right to refuse to negotiate with them.
It is interesting how libertarian the software community is, and silicon vally, in some regards-- unions being a good example. And yet in other regards they seem often to be hardcore socialist. I find it perplexing.
I'd like to also recommend Hazlitt's book: it is an extremely well-written exploration of commonly-held (even today) economic fallacies. Hazlitt's display of circumspection alone is worth the read.
I don't know if you've read it or not, but Henry Hazlitt's "Economics in one lesson" is a great book. [1]
One of the chapters covers unions and he shows how economically they cannot in the end benefit workers. However, even if they are inefficient or foolish, workers have a right to form associations. Its just that employers have a right to refuse to negotiate with them.
It is interesting how libertarian the software community is, and silicon vally, in some regards-- unions being a good example. And yet in other regards they seem often to be hardcore socialist. I find it perplexing.
[1] You can get it here: http://www.fee.org/library/books/economics-in-one-lesson/