Stevens Final Blog Post

 In Chapter 7, Anderson refutes Tyler Cowen’s critique and maintains her position that private companies exercise far too much control over the lives of their employees and are effectively “communist dictatorships in our midst.” (Anderson 37). Much of Anderson’s response criticizes Cowen for not looking beyond his own tenured professor experience of work. She outlines numerous reports of worker abuse and legal cases across a variety of industries to show that Cowen is ignoring the experience of the bottom half of American workers.

 

Anderson’s ferocious defense against Cowen is convincing, but I’m a little skeptical of her claim that the pre-industrial legacy of self-employed work keeps Americans from seeing the role for government in the private sector. Since at least the New Deal era, America has passed laws and regulations that protected workers against employers. For instance, the Fair Labor Standards Act, which is still in effect today, established the first minimum wage (among other things) in 1938. The problem seems that we have not bothered to continually update these worker laws. The minimum wage is at its lowest level purchasing power in decades. Yet while the current federal minimum wage only applies to 2% of workers, raising it to $15 an hour would raise wages for 24% of workers. Is the problem with today’s economy structural? Or, have we just neglected to update existing protections? At least at some point Americans recognized the need for government in the private sector, and Anderson’s argument shows that idea desperately needs to return.

 

Anderson’s response in Chapter 7, and her book as a whole, generally focuses on the tyranny companies can exercise over their employees, but it is important to note that consumers can also feel the effects of private government from government. Interestingly, this idea is gaining traction in conservative circles that are angry at corporations like Big Tech for allegedly censoring conservative views and expressing “woke” values. Ted Cruz’s recent op-ed in the WSJ titled “Your Woke Money is No Good Here” exemplifies the view that big corporations are pushing their liberal ideology onto America. I think it’s interesting to consider that modern conservatives may be receptive to Anderson’s argument, but for entirely different reasons than she argues for.