The S-word

Often when people have some animosity toward some other group, they will come up with a derogatory, dehumanizing name to describe members of that group. Dehumanizing the other is a way to justify acts of violence perpetrated against them. This is why we find the n-word so offensive when it is used to describe blacks. We object to similar words directed toward gay people and other ethnic groups. It is quite right that we do so.

One area where we don't go far enough in this regard is with the habit of union workers calling non-union workers "scabs". This should be every bit as unacceptable, as it serves much the same purpose. Dehumanizing non-union workers is a step toward justifying violence directed against them. This form of hate speech has the object of driving non-union workers away and keeping them out of the profession where they might compete with union workers.

In order to collect wages that are above the market rate it is necessary to keep some people from entering the given trade. The free market wage is the one where the number of willing buyers is equal to the number of willing sellers. In order to get a better deal than this it is necessary to prevent some people from offering a competing price. At the wage that the union wants, there will be many people who will not be able to find work in the field, but would be able to do so at a lower rate. Because these people would financially benefit from being able to offer a lower price, it is necessary to punish them in order to prevent them from doing so.

I know of one instance where a union handed out baseball caps that had the work scab along with cross hairs. This is a blatant threat to commit violence against non-union workers. What I think is noteworthy is that the cap can serve no legitimate purpose. Does anyone actually imagine that anyone buys such hats for their own personal use? These hats were made openly, in broad daylight. The individuals who chose to make and distribute these hats obviously had no fear of prosecution, nor did they fear being ostracized by the community. I doubt that our society or law enforcement officials would look at this quite the same way if a similar article of clothing were made with the f- or n- word used for gay or black people respectively, and then distributed to the corresponding group.

We must never accept the use of hatred and violence whether it is for the purpose of financial gain or prejudice. Language used to dehumanize a group of people serves the purpose of placing violence directed against that group in a different moral light. We view the killing of a human being differently than destruction of a physical object or even an animal. For this reason removing the status of person from another human being is a serious moral offense and ought to be treated as such.