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Comment by derleth | Hacker News Reader

> Well, not every country is like that. In many others lobbying is illegal and people who do it are severely punished.

That's not the only way to buy influence.

> Monsanto wants to grow GMO crops in our country? Sure, but only after they show the documentation that its safe for people and does not affect local businesses.

So this only applies to Monsanto, or do local companies have to do the same things?

> In the "land of the free" you are also free to exploit your employees

Utterly untrue. You have no idea what you're talking about.

> And sure, its very,very far from perfect, but I am pretty sure its nowhere as corrupt as the US government.

How can you possibly know?

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> Utterly untrue. You have no idea what you're talking about.

It took ten (1998-2008) years before the US minimum wage went up.

That's 10 years without a pay rise for the unskilled worker of America.

It that's not an example of worker exploitation I don't know what is?

Statutory minimum wages not rising are not an example of worker exploitation. Even if there were no minimum wage laws worker exploitation does not necessarily follow.

Additionally, in your example while the federal minimum wage might not have increased many states have their own minimum wage laws that have changed over the period you describe.

The closest statement you could make is that an absence of minimum wage laws may make it legal to employ people at an exploitatively low wage. This is not really the name thing.

> Even if there were no minimum wage laws worker exploitation does not necessarily follow.

To answer this question you have to go no further than to study history.

When there where no minimum wage laws workers where exploited.

You have to go back no further than the first industrial revolution to see evidence of this.

Now that exploitation brought about the rise of the union movement.

I don't think it is a coincide that as we now witness the decline of the union movement, there is a corresponding rise in the exploitation of workers.

Those who don't study their history are destined to repeat it.

Germany doesn't have a minimum wage either.

It's becoming more complicated in Germany. See e.g. http://www.economist.com/node/21536648

>So this only applies to Monsanto, or do local companies have to do the same things?

This would naturally apply to any company, local or foreign.

> Utterly untrue. You have no idea what you're talking about.

Just six words: "right to work", "at will employment".

And only four to counter: "Be a hard worker".

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