Revenge of the Chickenized Reverse-Centaurs

Chickenization and Monopsony Power

• Commenters focus on the “chickenization” model: nominally independent farmers locked into a single buyer that dictates inputs, processes, and standards while unilaterally setting pay at near-subsistence levels.
• This is widely described as a monopsony, sometimes “borderline slavery,” especially because farmers invest in highly specific assets (coops, equipment) that have no alternative use.

Capitalism, Regulation, and Market Design

• Some see this as the natural outcome of under‑regulated capitalism; others refine that to “consumer‑only regulation” (strict food safety rules → few processors, but little regulation of how they treat suppliers).
• There’s a debate over whether capitalism is inherently exploitative (surplus labor theory) versus claims that surplus labor theory is “unscientific bunk.”
• Others argue these structures require regulatory capture and antitrust failure; a nationwide monopsony in such a simple product is seen by some as implausible without state-enabled barriers.

Why Farmers Don’t Just Exit or Compete

• “Why don’t they do something else?” gets answered with: lack of alternatives in rural areas, debt overhang, sunk investment, need to keep income flowing, and government program constraints.
• Suggestions like “just build your own processing and sell direct” run into food-safety regulation costs, capital requirements, distribution power, big buyers’ willingness to dump prices, and blackballing by dominant processors.
• Co-ops and artisanal/local butchery exist but only work at small, high-margin scales.

Unions, Law, and Collective Action

• Several comments argue US law structurally cripples union power (bans on sectoral bargaining, secondary boycotts/strikes, broad strike replacement, cooling-off periods).
• Others note unions historically gained rights by defying even harsher laws and repression.
• There’s disagreement over whether weakened unions are mainly due to law, to offshoring/global competition, or to past union excess.

Consumer Welfare vs Worker Welfare

• A “customers will vote with their wallets” defense of non-union models is attacked as naïve: markets get stuck in bad equilibria, and people and firms are not fully rational.
• Some argue ethics and citizenship, not just customer surplus, must shape labor rules.

AI, Gig Work, and the Future of Labor

• Many see gig platforms and algorithmic management as a direct continuation of chickenization, potentially leading to “techno-feudal” lock-in.
• Others note that in some sectors (post‑COVID restaurants, trades) labor scarcity has raised wages, suggesting dynamics are uneven.
• There’s a strong pushback on the term “unskilled labor”: physical and service work is often highly skilled but oversupplied and undervalued.

Comparisons and References

• EU is assumed to be better on farmer/animal welfare, but one comment notes EU poultry dumping has harmed African farmers.
• Marshall Brain’s novella Manna is cited as an eerily prescient portrayal of algorithmic labor control with an implausibly optimistic ending.