Social problems; Socialism -- United States; Working class -- United States
It has been shown that there are more men than there is work for men, and
that the surplus labor army is an economic necessity. To show how the
tramp is a by-product of this economic necessity, it is necessary to
inquire into the composition of the surplus labor army. What men form
it? Why are they there? What do they do?
In the first place, since the workers must compete for employment, it
inevitably follows that it is the fit and efficient who find employment.
The skilled worker holds his place by virtue of his skill and efficiency.
Were he less skilled, or were he unreliable or erratic, he would be
swiftly replaced by a stronger competitor. The skilled and steady
employments are not cumbered with clowns and idiots. A man finds his
place according to his ability and the needs of the system, and those
without ability, or incapable of satisfying the needs of the system, have
no place. Thus, the poor telegrapher may develop into an excellent
wood-chopper. But if the poor telegrapher cherishes the delusion that he
is a good telegrapher, and at the same time disdains all other
employments, he will have no employment at all, or he will be so poor at
all other employments that he will work only now and again in lieu of
better men. He will be among the first let off when times are dull, and
among the last taken on when times are good. Or, to the point, he will
be a member of the surplus labor army.
So the conclusion is reached that the less fit and less efficient, or the
unfit and inefficient, compose the surplus labor army. Here are to be
found the men who have tried and failed, the men who cannot hold
jobs,--the plumber apprentice who could not become a journeyman, and the
plumber journeyman too clumsy and dull to retain employment; switchmen
who wreck trains; clerks who cannot balance books; blacksmiths who lame
horses; lawyers who cannot plead; in short, the failures of every trade
and profession, and failures, many of them, in divers trades and
professions. Failure is writ large, and in their wretchedness they bear
the stamp of social disapprobation. Common work, any kind of work,
wherever or however they can obtain it, is their portion.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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