The Unequal Social Contract: How Discrimination Shaped Americas Labor Market

Social Contract Student`s Name Institution Affiliation Date Social Contract Question 2 We learn in history that labor market worked in ways that divided workers, keeping some people mostly the African American out, preventing them from enjoying all the benefits of a growing economy. In the pre- capitalist society, was entirely agricultural. Free people in communities typically worked independently as either craftsmen or farmers. Wage labor was rare since there were no labor laws in place and informal and formal labor was indistinguishable. Beginning of our nation`s history however led to some changes which included creation of laws, institution and social norms that contributed to creation of segmented economy. Many people in the economy were left out by design; slave were the most common people, native people and Mexicans lost their rights and their land. Women on the other hand were not allowed to own property or to vote (Allen 1999). Simply the economy was organized around laws that were all designed by the white man mostly the property owners who used the legistlative powers to strengthen their position of power in American society. As industrialization began, wage labor was introduced since new factories needed workers and labor. However these factory jobs were considered informal since there was no worker protection regulation. As the economy recovered with time and began to grow, the social contract was introduced and the country entered a period of shared prosperity anchored in the Keynesian economics(Durham, 2007). The government used tax revenues to expend public infranstucture, support education and introduced new regulations that increased workers protection and benefits. However, these reforms excluded some people from these benefits. For example, there were differe