Why Birth Control is Crucial: A Historical Perspective on Labor and Power Shifts

Harper Quill

Updated Friday, July 26, 2024 at 12:00 AM CDT

The image making rounds on social media brings attention to the significant role birth control plays in contemporary society. Displaying white text on a solid black background, the image draws intriguing parallels between historical events and current trends in birth rates and labor dynamics.

The text begins by referencing the bubonic plague, which caused feudal lords to relinquish some of their power due to labor shortages. This historical event underscores how drastic reductions in population can shift power dynamics significantly. Similarly, the baby boom era produced thousands of billionaires, largely due to the surplus of labor available at the time.

Fast forward to today, the image posits that the current decline in birth rates in industrial societies may once again shift power from the current elites back to the labor force. This notion suggests that birth control, acting as a modern-day mechanism to control population growth, could play a pivotal role in rebalancing power dynamics.

The comments section of the post provides further depth, with users discussing various implications of birth control and labor dynamics. One user highlights how legislation has often funneled power away from workers to the top, emphasizing the importance of birth control in today's world. Another user suggests that the right-wing agenda to eliminate education and birth control aims to create a society with a massive amount of under-educated laborers and poverty.

Other users discuss the global economy's complexity and how the ruling class might import labor from other countries, thus sidestepping domestic labor shortages. There are also mentions of how a consumer-based economy differs from the medieval economy, with a reduced population potentially shrinking both the labor market and the market for goods.

One particularly striking comment suggests that the elites aim to recreate a new feudal society, with an under-educated serf class serving industrial rather than agricultural needs. The idea of a universal general strike is floated as a potential countermeasure, emphasizing the collective power of labor.

In sum, this image and the ensuing discussion highlight the crucial role of birth control in shaping labor markets and power dynamics. By controlling birth rates, society could potentially navigate towards a more balanced distribution of power, echoing historical shifts seen during the bubonic plague and the baby boom era.

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View source: Imgur

Top Comments from Imgur

MystieNethersworth

Sure~ if legislation didn't take power away from the workers and funnel it straight to to top, but also birth control is very important these days... stay safe ladies

bikerdude08

Now you know why the right-wingers want to eliminate education, birth control, and 'no-fault' divorce. Because these things will not let them turn America into the 'United States of India', with associated castes, hundreds of millions of under-educated laborers, and a MASSIVE amount of poverty level individuals.

SnakesInBowties

Ending abortion and birth control is how they plan on thwarting this from happening.

kwyjib****

Works in a closed system, but the global economy (and climate crisis) means the ruling class can just import labour from other countries through increasing immigration. Workers in the middle ages has significantly less mobility than workers today, which is good and bad.

wildwestpb

It’s important because there will be less people around taking up all the good parking spots.

Raoul97533

Nope, they just import their workers from other countries, no matter the consequences.

OliverOtter

Problem though: the medieval economy wasn't consumer-based. When the economy is geared around creating products for people to buy, reducing the number of people reduces the market at the same time it reduces the labor market. To properly replicate the conditions that boosted labor at the end of the Middle Ages, we need a whole lot of Millennials and Gen Z to be drafted into the military and thus shrink the labor pool while increasing the buy rate of weapons, creating actual labor shortage.

derekjohn

That's what the 'elite' super-rich wish to re-create: a new feudal society based on industries, not land, and an under-educated serf class.

Igut

The problem is that the owning class wants to bring the new serfs from third world countries. The leftist are also tricked to be copy the same talking points that we need more migrant workers. But it keeps the salaries down because there is no incentive to raise them

laserfrog

Cliodynamics

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