What of unions? Surely pure capitalism would take us back to the bad old days when employers busted up unions?
Whatever was practiced in the ‘bad old days’ was not the kind of capitalism described in this FAQ. The defining principle of Libertarian capitalism given here was the non-initiation of force and the upholding of individual rights. A person should be perfectly entitled to join a union, provided the union is voluntary. However compulsory unions (commonly advocated by socialists) are not acceptable, still this involves coercion (which is an initiation of force). Unions are a less than ideal way to handle employer/worker relations. Firstly, collective bargaining leads to ‘one size fits all’ arrangements which fail to take into account differences between individual workers. Secondly, unions can take advantage of workers just as bosses can. It’s a known fact that many early unions in the United States and elsewhere had mafia connections. There is a famous expression: ‘Meet the new boss, same as the old boss!’ Unions have a history of ugly employer/union conflicts (especially in the U.S) and
