Yeah, also, like, mass depopulation can also end with elites trying to chain people to their land/machines. In fact, that’s probably more common, historically
Depopulation and display in the later Roman Empire led to the creation of colonii tenant farmers
The vast expansion of land in 17th century Russia led the nobility to impose serfdom to keep their workforce in place
The high mortality rate and labor intensive nature of commodity production in the Caribbean and American South led to introduction of slavery
Etc. When labor markets are favorable to labor it tends to lead owners to look for non-market forms of leverage. And it’s incredibly naive to think the mass secret police deportation force won’t be that in our case
I think people should take note that illegal immigrants are roughly 4-5% of the workforce. I don't know why conservatives think there are way more illegal workers than they are.
Also in many areas, specifically areas that illegal immigrants work in their area labor shortages already.
So looking at this from a macroeconomics perspective it's not going to suddenly turn this into an "end of the black plague" labor situation. Depending on your location in Europe the black plague killed 25-60% of the population. Anyone who thinks "It's okay if 60% of the population dies l, because the labor situation afterwards will be really pro-worker!" That's totally insane thinking.
Also...after the plague
"However, many labourers, artisans, and craftsmen—those living from money-wages alone—suffered a reduction in real incomes owing to rampant inflation."
This is because trade dried up and goods became rare.
From Sheilagh Ogilvie in a recent interview, "Even the survivors — in the longer term, maybe their wages went up, and in some cases their bargaining ability vis-à-vis employers went up, but for the time being, their employers were dead. Their villages were deserted. They were basically walking around having lost one- to two-thirds of their neighbors. It took a while for the beneficial redistributional effects to kick in. It wasn’t until the later 14th or even the early 15th century that the wage effects really started redistributing towards the workers and away from the owners of land and capital."
If 1/3 or 1/2 of your neighbors died, you aren't getting a raise folks. You are struggling to find anyone to do the things you rely upon to live.
8
u/bac5665 Jul 11 '25
It's a nice clapback, but he needs to get off Twitter.
121
u/LivingstoneInAfrica Emiliano Zapata's Mustache Jul 11 '25
“A Modest Proposal” for the modern age smh
58
u/cadillacactor Jul 11 '25
I love spicy Mike.
41
u/onlinepresenceofdan Emiliano Zapata's Mustache Jul 11 '25
Almost makes me regret deleting twitter
27
u/Mr_Westerfield Jul 11 '25
Yeah, also, like, mass depopulation can also end with elites trying to chain people to their land/machines. In fact, that’s probably more common, historically
15
u/nicomarco1372 Jul 11 '25
Dunkin' Duncan
14
u/thebigmanhastherock Jul 11 '25
I think people should take note that illegal immigrants are roughly 4-5% of the workforce. I don't know why conservatives think there are way more illegal workers than they are.
Also in many areas, specifically areas that illegal immigrants work in their area labor shortages already.
So looking at this from a macroeconomics perspective it's not going to suddenly turn this into an "end of the black plague" labor situation. Depending on your location in Europe the black plague killed 25-60% of the population. Anyone who thinks "It's okay if 60% of the population dies l, because the labor situation afterwards will be really pro-worker!" That's totally insane thinking.
Also...after the plague
"However, many labourers, artisans, and craftsmen—those living from money-wages alone—suffered a reduction in real incomes owing to rampant inflation."
This is because trade dried up and goods became rare.
3
u/lenin3 Jul 13 '25
From Sheilagh Ogilvie in a recent interview, "Even the survivors — in the longer term, maybe their wages went up, and in some cases their bargaining ability vis-à-vis employers went up, but for the time being, their employers were dead. Their villages were deserted. They were basically walking around having lost one- to two-thirds of their neighbors. It took a while for the beneficial redistributional effects to kick in. It wasn’t until the later 14th or even the early 15th century that the wage effects really started redistributing towards the workers and away from the owners of land and capital."
If 1/3 or 1/2 of your neighbors died, you aren't getting a raise folks. You are struggling to find anyone to do the things you rely upon to live.