Company town

Yeah, yeah.

And we were really interested in this one because at the time, the good decision makers of Nevada were... talking through new legislation that would allow businesses to create their own company towns, corporate fiefdoms.

It's a wild ride.

And I think we referenced that 16-ton song pretty often in this one.

line right and that's where that's that's what i'm getting to when i'm talking about this three-person board because we don't know there aren't specific people elected to the board because this is just draft legislation it's a proposal it hasn't gone through yet but here's how it breaks down so there are three people running the board One of them is appointed by the governor, which would be Sisolak at this point.

The company gets to appoint the other two members, which is far past any other conflict of interest that we've talked about before.

Uh, this reminds me like of one of the most famous, I would say qualifies as a company town, uh, the reedy creek improvement district aka the autonomous the semi-autonomous state of the disney corporation of florida this totally these are company towns i think you make a good argument about augusta national as well this is probably going to happen folks and we'll have people in the audience who disagree on whether it's a good thing or a bad thing looking at the facts I think, Noel, you and I can agree that there's much more opportunity for corruption and conspiracy than there is for progress and the betterment of the life of the average Nevada resident.

This sets off my spidey sense, and not in the best way, but what do you think, folks? Are we being alarmist? Obviously, we don't think we are, but could this lead to a situation where some members of the U.S.

Workers were basically on their own, and when they tried to organize collectively, they faced not just their employers, but potentially the police, private security forces, the courts, and the US military.

But even when workers weren't striking, even when they were just trying to live their lives and buy necessities, the economic system was often rigged against them in ways that might not be immediately obvious, which is where we need to talk about company towns.

When your boss owned your house, your store, and your church.

Imagine this.

You're not just an employee.

You're living in a complete economic ecosystem controlled by your employer, and that employer has the power to shape nearly every aspect of your life.

Company towns were a common feature of the Gilded Age, particularly in extractive industries like mining and logging and in some manufacturing centers.

The logic from the company's perspective was straightforward.