I don't know why I keep vainly trying to haul this discussion back to morality. But here goes one more time:
Quote:
Originally Posted by tompe
I think it is obviously not morally necessary. There are no right to be compensated for any labor you choose. If I choose to do the labor of writing in this forum I do not see how there could be some moral reason to compensate me. So I think the question probably is not the correct question to pose. But I assume it depends on what donate means. Can I pick up garbage on my way to work without donating the labor?
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Ok, it's fair to say I didn't word the question correctly. But let me rephrase it, please:
In your mind, is it morally necessary to compensate someone for their labor when you take advantage of that labor, assuming they have not voluntarily donated that labor to you?
In other words, we're not discussing forcing someone to compensate the laborer for arbitrary labor, we're talking about whether someone who enjoys the fruits of someone else's labor has a moral obligation to compensate the laborer -- in some form. If you like, we can also debate who sets the value of the compensation: the laborer, the one who enjoys the labors, a negotiation between the two of them, or a third party, e.g. "the state." Supposedly, in a free market, the value is negotiated by the laborer and the consumer, whereas in communism the value is set by the state.
(In any case, posting on a public forum definitely counts as donating labor. That's implied by the nature of a public forum. But you could set up a private forum in which you could post your words of wisdom and you could ask for compensation from those who would read your posts.)