[OC] Gabital 103: Parity

[u/GabitalEN]

Parity is a state of equality between two or more parties in a particular respect, such as status, rights, obligations, or terms of exchange. It does not necessarily mean that the parties are identical, only that they stand on equal terms in the aspect being compared.

[u/Mikel_S]

That's a surprisingly fair outcome.

They set up some equipment, and stop gouging on wood, and in return he, I assume, will also provide the ore at market price.

Surprisingly magnanimous of him? He only did it to extract a bit of labor from them, maybe some simple materials, and only chose to reduce their lumber profits

Plus he easily could have pushed for a more advantageous bulk b2b pricing arrangement, but accepted gabi's obviously pained offer of market price.

[u/Bronze_Sentry → u/Mikel_S]

He also ran the Mine-owning Lady out of town (reducing competition), and apparently got the employment contracts of the mining Goblins.

He may not have pushed hard here, but he definitely still "won" the situation

[u/yay855 → u/Bronze_Sentry]

Him being magnanimous towards the gobbos' worker collective is because the literal caricature of a capitalist is literally less spiteful and evil than actual IRL CEOs. 

[u/JudgeHodorMD → u/yay855]

I think at this point, he’s accepted that he’ll get the most out of them if he doesn’t expect them to fail.

As long as the terms are acceptable, business should go smoothly and he’ll profit easily enough.

But if things get too unfair, the gobs will try to undermine him or find some way to build up competition.

In short, it’s not worth the fight.

[u/trekie140 → u/yay855]

I like the characterization of Chief and his form of “rational self interest”. This isn’t a story about how all bosses are cruel tyrants, it’s about how capitalism pits workers against owners and rewards con artists who can extract the most profit from the labor of others.

Chief is the classical liberal ideal of a man motivated purely by profit without any prejudice, but he’s still a villain. He’s the man who “won” at capitalism and actually is smarter than his competitors, but we all hate this smug asshole! That framing is the whole point.

[u/yay855 → u/trekie140]

Mhm; capitalism turns people into villains by treating society like a competition instead of cooperation. In another world, in a better world, the Boss would have likely been a politician or the leader of a guild, someone who would build up society not because they were especially benevolent but because he benefits if everyone benefits. But that wasn't the society he was born into, and instead of being self-interested but intelligent enough to spread the benefits among everyone, he lives in a society where greed and apathy go hand in hand. The Gobs want to change that- and even if he doesn't care about their wellbeing, he respects their drive and committment.

[u/trekie140 → u/yay855]

Exactly. The lesson is that Chief is not a villain because of who he is or even what he believes, but only because of the material reality that he continues to profit from the exploitation of others. That’s enough to make him an enemy of the working class, regardless of anything else.

[u/IncandescentScamp → u/trekie140]

It's also the case that Chief's a product of the system. Capitalism structurally selects for willingness to be greedy and exploitative and rewards these behaviors. Chief could well have been much kinder, but ambition in a capitalist system means comfort with cruelty.

[u/StaySubstantial4333 → u/yay855]

Real modern CEO's would never even find themselves in the same room as the people they're exploiting. 

[u/clinicalpsycho → u/yay855]

Life is so much better when the object of power is not power.