Working together leads to competition against each other

The very concept of unionism can trace it’s beginning to to the agrarian system. The very idea that small villages gave way to the agrarian system as they adopted a lifestyle of shared sacrifice for the common good of all. The villages gave way to manorial system in which peasants of medieval Europe were dependent on their lands owned by lords. This system servitude forced the peasants to bond with their lords. Over time as the power of the individual grew, villages led to the creation of towns. The lords of the manorial system had to give way to the early concepts of democracy. The people were able to combine the resources and have lords represent them in the local courts that decided common law. The earliest signs of the collective combining their resources for a common goal can be seen in these earliest of days.

Towns and guilds (the earliest forms of unionism) became commonplace, causing the power of the very few to wane. Peasants remained poor, but a few individuals were able to elevate themselves from squander by obtaining land or a skill in which allowed them to climb the ladder within society. The creation of the different social classes occurred as some individual(s) were able to elevate themselves within society. Within these social classes villages/villagers consolidated their resources to achieve power by having a voice within the changing economic landscape.

Man has always sought ways in which to control large masses of individuals. Controlling people was not as important as the finding the method that would convince people to follow authority without questioning the very same authority. The earliest days, man followed religion, but after the Renaissance, man began to question his role in the world; and for the first time man began to question authority and religion. As the scientific age approached, man’s knowledge increased among-st the elite. It was only a matter of time as the same knowledge that was achieved would filter down to the common man. The Age of Enlightenment was one of the most significant periods during European history in which man openly questioned all forms of government and the lack of representation that came with it. The Age of Enlightenment was only the beginning of a revolution of thought among-st not only the elite, but those who were willing to question the hierarchy and their places within society.

Revolutions and the labor movement has always been the very tool the workers have used in order to gain economic equality within their societies only to have the upper class push back against such movements, because movements weaken their hold on both their economic status and power within society. The worker eventually sees themselves as a pawn and that their best interest will not be served by those who provide the opportunity in the first place as they are the ones who take full advantage of their efforts in the first place.

The manorial system proved the the earliest ideas of liberalism was a ideal sought by the lower classes. Capitalism and the threats of fascism are the latest threats the struggle the laborer faces as they try to carve out a living without facing the exploitation by those in power. The very ideas of liberalism gave certain freedoms to the people, but the restrictions governments can exercise over capitalist in ensuring there is no exploiting the workers can dangerously shift to a socialist society. The situation the laborer faces today is the fact that is they are able to steer their governments towards regulating such companies or at the very least unionize, the capitalist, today, has the ability to avoid negotiations by simply relocating elsewhere. Preferably overseas where certain countries either do no have corporation friendly governments or governments that are or have been willing to break up unions in order for those corporations to relocate. This practice would be known as globalization, during the 16th century it was known as colonization and in the 19th century imperialism.

In many ways, governments work in concert with the corporations forcing labor, from different countries, to compete with each other instead of of having the ability to negotiate directly with companies within their own borders. The two choices the labors were faced with over time is the adoption of socialism on a national scale or unionization on the local level in order to prevent the declining economic situations the laborer faces as they are forced to compete with each other.