A very important lesson from a CEO who was the antithesis of Arthur T. Demoulas. George Pullman was a railway baron -- the literal term is quite appropriate, given how he ruled his company town -- who, with the connivance of the federal government, broke the railway workers union. One important point for those who advocate laissez faire policies similar to those in the late 19th century -- in reality, they were anything but laissez faire. You see, people like George Pullman effectively bought the federal government by ensuring that government officials could enrich themselves by assisting him. You may argue that that wasnt true laissez faire, but the problem is, without effective law and regulation, how do you prevent government officials from being entrepreneurial in this way? Fortunately, this country eventually escaped, but it wasnt until Congress passed and FDR signed progressive legislation such as the National Labor Relations Act that workers had an effective voice. And its not always so easy to just find another job. Pullman effectively forced his employees and their families to live in the company town, where his word was law -- yes, he really was Baron Pullman, whether he styled himself such or not. He could carefully control rents such that his employees could -- just -- afford to live in their tenement housing, while ensuring that if anyone actually did quit theyd be out of home and hearth without the resources to go anywhere else. Yes, government can easily abuse people too. But a representative government, with universal suffrage, at least ensures that government ultimately does have to answer to the people. In the case of the robber baron era, it took a while, but it did eventually rein in the excesses. Keep in mind that at the time the government was a lot smaller -- no big social programs -- but small government didnt mean any lack of tyranny, and certainly any lack of corruption.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 20:58:02 +0000
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