> In many countries, child labor wasn't banned because of moral reasons, it was banned as an anti-competitive measure against un-mechanized factories.
OK, then child soldiers. Or chemical weapons. Pretty much anything outlawed by the Geneva Convention–all economical ways to wage wars, trumped by morality. Not as anti-competitive measures against killer robots.
> I've gone to many nice restaurants where they didn't charge me up front,
Restaurants also typically don't risk their lives for you, so not really relevant.
> You say that companies should expect profits to fall,
That's what I said.
> but do you expect the companies to drive themselves into the ground (thus leaving their employees unemployed) in an attempt to do a little to help?
That's not what I said. It helps if you stick to what I actually said.
> Most companies spend about 50% of their revenue on labor, and have a profit of less than five percent.
We're not talking about most companies. We're talking about big industrial PPE manufacturers like 3M, which reported net income of about $5b dollars in 2018, and because of accounting tricks,[1] probably under-reported their income. They have a profit margin of about 50% for at least the past five years.[2]
> That means that a 10% increase in labor costs (think overtime)
We're not talking about a uniform, across-the-board 10% increase in labour costs, we're talking about targeted cost increases specifically for PPE manufacture.
> they really can't afford to reduce their margins much, and remain an extant firm.
Based on the actually relevant numbers, it looks like they'll be just fine.
> You say we shouldn't gamble our lives on the continued decency of for-profit corporations, but I have more confidence in their ethics than those of the common man.
I'm just curious, who do you think makes up these for-profit corporations, some kind of special saints? As opposed to 'common' people?
OK, then child soldiers. Or chemical weapons. Pretty much anything outlawed by the Geneva Convention–all economical ways to wage wars, trumped by morality. Not as anti-competitive measures against killer robots.
> I've gone to many nice restaurants where they didn't charge me up front,
Restaurants also typically don't risk their lives for you, so not really relevant.
> You say that companies should expect profits to fall,
That's what I said.
> but do you expect the companies to drive themselves into the ground (thus leaving their employees unemployed) in an attempt to do a little to help?
That's not what I said. It helps if you stick to what I actually said.
> Most companies spend about 50% of their revenue on labor, and have a profit of less than five percent.
We're not talking about most companies. We're talking about big industrial PPE manufacturers like 3M, which reported net income of about $5b dollars in 2018, and because of accounting tricks,[1] probably under-reported their income. They have a profit margin of about 50% for at least the past five years.[2]
> That means that a 10% increase in labor costs (think overtime)
We're not talking about a uniform, across-the-board 10% increase in labour costs, we're talking about targeted cost increases specifically for PPE manufacture.
> they really can't afford to reduce their margins much, and remain an extant firm.
Based on the actually relevant numbers, it looks like they'll be just fine.
[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2020/02/26/hi...
> You say we shouldn't gamble our lives on the continued decency of for-profit corporations, but I have more confidence in their ethics than those of the common man.
I'm just curious, who do you think makes up these for-profit corporations, some kind of special saints? As opposed to 'common' people?
[2] https://ycharts.com/companies/MMM/gross_profit_margin