Sorry, but it's not a 'law of capitalism' that you pay people as little as possible — it's an excuse

[enlightenment]

4. Adam Smith spins in his grave.

He was pro-labor and believed firmly in a fair wage -- “It is but equity, besides, that they who feed, cloath and lodge the whole body of the people, should have such a share of the produce of their own labour as to be themselves tolerably well fed, cloathed and lodged.”

He supported taxing the rich to provide aid to the poor -- “When the toll upon carriages of luxury, . . . is made somewhat higher in proportion to their weight, than upon carriages of necessary use . . . the indolence and vanity of the rich is made to contribute in a very easy manner to the relief of the poor . . .“

Opposed corporations -- “Let the same natural liberty of exercising what species of industry they please, be restored to all his majesty’s subjects . . . that is, break down the exclusive privileges of corporations . . .”

Thought the government should protect human rights -- “That the condition of a slave is better under an arbitrary than under a free government, is, I believe, supported by the history of all ages and nations.”

- Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations