stackyFACTSThe independent labor economy used to involve substantially more bloodshed. The term was coined in the nineteenth century to describe medieval mercenaries who offered their literal physical lances to the highest bidder, making today's contract workers seem incredibly tame by comparison.
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Activists fought for decades to get children out of dangerous coal mines, but legislation barely worked. It was only when governments made daily school…
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Long before modern labor boards, the Code of Hammurabi strictly dictated how much corn you had to pay a hired worker. Of course, the penalties for breaking…
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The origins of professional certification involved significantly more physical threats. If a blacksmith tried to casually open a shop without kissing the ring…
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Even brilliant historical minds had to grovel for employment. In the late fifteenth century, the legendary polymath wrote a highly exaggerated letter to the…
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The midday caffeine dose was not a gracious gift to let you relax and socialize. Employers realized that heavily caffeinated workers made fewer errors on the…
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Diplomacy is absolutely useless when you can just deploy a private militia. Industrial titans routinely hired armed detective agencies to violently…
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