Turning the Labor Shortage Up to 11
It&#x27;s no secret that real wages have remained stagnant for most people for over 40 years [1]. I&#x27;m of the school of thought that believes that we&#x27;re at real risk of creating a permanent ruling class and a permanent working class by virtue of massive amounts of inherited wealth. This is what an aristocracy and serfdom looks like.<p>What fascinating to me is how history repeats itself. In the 14th century, the Black Plague devastated Europe. It&#x27;s impossible to know but there&#x27;s a lot of evidence to suggest that as much as HALF the population was killed.<p>This created a massive labour shortage after the plague passed, which ironically was a huge boon for workers rights, so much so that King Edward III tried to regulate worker wages in an effort to stop &quot;gouging&quot; [2]. Like pretty much all attempts at price-controls it failed.<p>So here we are almost 700 years later in a pandemic and we may be seeing the first increase in real wages in 40+ years.<p>As an aside, it&#x27;s so bizarre to me how many ordinary people will jump to the defense of billionaires when it comes to estate taxes.<p>What I think many such people don&#x27;t seem to understand is that wealth will ultimately get redistributed one way or another. The ultimate forms of wealth distribution are revolution and war and that&#x27;s really in nobody&#x27;s best interests. It&#x27;s actually good for everyone if the masses aren&#x27;t living paycheck-to-paycheck.<p>[1]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;sgp.fas.org&#x2F;crs&#x2F;misc&#x2F;R45090.pdf" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;sgp.fas.org&#x2F;crs&#x2F;misc&#x2F;R45090.pdf</a><p>[2]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Statute_of_Labourers_1351" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Statute_of_Labourers_1351</a>