An End to Slavery

The time to turn my words into actions has arrived

I took the unusual step today of giving notice to all my staff. I have decided that henceforth I will not be an employer. Of course they shall all continue to work with me, but it will be on a self-employed basis, a contract between free and equal individuals rather than a master and his slaves.

At the beginnings of Capitalism most people worked on a piecework basis. For example in coal mines, miners were paid on the basis of how much coal they produced and not how many hours they worked. Fishermen I believe still work on the old basis and take a share of the catch.

This changed because the owners of the mines noticed that people were limiting production based on how much money they needed for themselves. The 'self-employed' miner working someone's mineshaft changed to become an employed miner who worked set hours. Production increased but the quality of life of the miners declined.

This was the shift from Capitalism to Corporatism.

What does this change from employee to self-employed mean?

Firstly, I shall not be acting as a tax collector for the government any more - I will deduct no social security or income tax from the payments made to them. I shall not be acting as informer for the government either I shall not be providing all manner of personal information as is currently required of me.

Secondly, they will be free to determine when they work, what they do whilst they are at work, the amount of money they earn will be of their own choosing. As free individuals they will not be bound to give periods of notice.

What they lose is - an enforced savings scheme (social security) which offers investors an atrocious return on their money. They will just have to take some responsibility for themselves and set aside some of their money for their own future. I am told that there is a 'sense of security' that employed people apparently feel about not having to worry about their next pay check. It seems to me that not only are employees worried about their next pay check, but that also there can be no real 'sense of security' other than blind faith.

From my perspective this is a 'leap of faith' a belief in my employees as intelligent, capable individuals who having tasted this greater freedom who choose to stick with it, rather than seek to return to the 'security' of being a mere employee. I want to empower these individuals to achieve what they wish to, not seek to exploit them, limit them or control their actions. I believe that by working as partners in a mutually beneficial venture we can achieve more than we do as master and slaves.