Ah, but there *are* local police officers that enforce local laws. Given Neptune's lack of involvement in most affairs, its exceedingly unlikely that he would have personally created these laws and selected these officers. It seems to me that the ocean is a collection of self regulating city-states under the banner of a godking.
Given this, how would a strike or unionization fair against local policy and law, assuming it continued past the second day, or had to happen again?
On another note, assuming the unionization became prolonged, how would rival businesses react? What would be the broader economic and social effects on Bikini Bottom?
That is true, there are local police and a mayor in Bikini Bottom. I do think this weighs in favor of management. The police seem to mostly be concerned with violent criminals, and I doubt unfair labor practices rank highly on their list.
It's also likely that Krabs, as a successful local business owner, has major sway with local authorities. If the strike persisted, the police would probably intervene to clear the picket on Krabs' behalf.
Rival businesses probably wouldn't reach much except in token support of Krabs. The Chum Bucket might try to roll out an inferior competitor to the Krabby Patty, but they were trying to do that anyway. As we all know, the Krabby Patty is easy to imitate, but extremely hard to perfect, and its imitators are universally depicted as disgusting. Most businesses would not even attempt to fill the Krusty Krab's niche.
Good considerations, but I'm not fully convinced. Mr Krabs has been arrested multiple times, twice for theft, one of which was petty, and the other, while far more substantive, was not itself violent. Indeed, in the Season 6 episode 15 episode Patty Caper, he stole the krabby patty secret ingredient to avoid paying for it, and was arrested for such. And his political influence demonstrably didn't help him at all, as the judge, a recurring character, sentenced him to therefore give away patties for free for a day, displaying clear sympathies for the common man over the ruling classes; and moreover, the police then derived great joy from forcing him to watch.
I do agree that any competitors who tried to replace it would fail, and thus few would try. But we've also seen that the krusty krab, while not being the only restaurant, is nevertheless one of the most economically productive and vital businesses to the local population—even with little in the way of krabs giving back to the community except under duress, bikini bottom can and has become desolate without it. Presumably, businesses would still seek to fill the economic power vacuum, even if not by direct imitation
I think the answer here lies in your own response: As you so astutely noted, the Krusty Krab is a local, vital economic engine for Bikini Bottom, presumably with positive knock on effects for the entire metropolis. Local authorities and the elite of Bikini Bottom that influences them all have a strong incentive to keep the Krusty Krab open and thus keep business flowing for everyone. This also explain's the judge and police's behavior towards Krabs. They want him to continue operating his business, but also to ensure other businesses get theirs.
As is so common in real life, I suspect that the authorities want a fair, competitive, regulated market for goods & services, but not labor. Just like how Krabs stealing brings the profitability of other local businesses down, so too would an active labor movement. The local authorities would thus want to a) keep the Krab open at all costs, and b) nip organized labor in the bud. I do still think they would intervene on Krabs' behalf.
I absolutely agree they have an interest in ensuring the restaurant stays in business. However, as per the judicial system's own actions, they tend to act against his individual interest, in favor of the interest of the restaurant. I therefore imagine well enough that you're right that they would intervene to remove the barricade. But in so doing, they would enforce the union's demands also, recognizing that capitulating there is the best way to keep the doors open, to avoid another (albeit potentially illegal) strike or worse, quitting. The police would recognize just as well that no other workers can handle it.
Not only does Bikini Bottom have law enforcement, but the health inspector episode suggests there is also a Department of Health to ensure businesses comply with health regulations and standards. This suggests that the author’s grasp of Bikini Bottom’s bureaucratic infrastructure may be incomplete. For all we know, a department of labor could very well exist, though it may still be useless.
I will admit that I had failed to fully consider local Bikini Bottom regulatory authorities, assuming that Neptune would not allow his power to be diminished as such
Oooh very good point. Moreover, the judicial beuracracy is likely even more robust than I described, given that they are able to procure and maintain warrants from other jurisdictions, as seen with Mrs. Puff being wanted for crimes from far away and long before
Surely the indifference of Neptune is only a mixed disadvantage, for without an active state, Mr Krabs has no mechanism to enforce peonage against messrs Squarepants and Squidward. They need only strike again, or, potentially, turn to even more direct and militant measures e.g.https://www.labornotes.org/2013/07/chinese-workers-kidnap-factory-executives
I note, in this regard, that it is extremely common for squid to prey on crabs.
This is where we must consider local governance of Bikini Bottom, which does (as @eliasbeamish pointed out above) have a local police force. I would contend that this police force, along with the local population generally, would intervene to keep the two workers in bondage
Per your Nov. 9th essay: "This is Sproutstack, the greatest publication on planet Earth" = statement of fact. Don't post any more scary photos, please.
I can accept that SpongeBob has the Mandate of Heaven, but we must also accept that our noble Mr. SquarePants, and it pains me to say this, does not operate at a normal mental capacity. He has natural gifts for kitchen work, sure, but he's missing a few marbles. He destroys the Krusty Krab in this episode primarily because he doesn't understand that Mr. Tentacles' protest chants are metaphors. He acts out all the chants literally, and in so doing destroys the Krab. (In fairness Mr. Tentacles' chants are needlessly wordy, but so am I.)
We can say as a result that Mr. SquarePants never really understood what was going on with the strike. I would say he almost certainly lacks the necessary mental abilities to do so. He was "on board" in that he was on the picket, but he never really got it. In a similar way, I would dismiss any notion of him being a monarchist. I don't think he really understands what that means either.
I would agree that if he willed it, it would become, but he doesn't have the acuity of thought needed to will it.
I disagree there, I think that SpongeBob’s mental capacity is actually pretty good. I think that he is just overflows with supernal energies.
As you say, he fundamentally doesn’t understand the meaning of “Strike” — this is agreeable, but I think this lack is of loftiness not mental degradation.
I think SpongeBob is a spongia ludens par excellence. He is lofty, water-receptive, distributive, functional, cleanly, and supportive. He is the device of purification for both peasants and nobility. This role requires he has significant thinking capability, but it is absorptive rather than applicative.
SpongeBob is extropic and anti-radical, but also receptive to high fluidity. His support of monarchy is sensible as an extension of those properties.
I just wanna say—I haven’t been able to read your work yet (but I’ve bookmarked lots of it and I absolutely will), but this is real journalism, and I greatly appreciate it 🙏🏽
literally wheezed when I scrolled to the Yarvin jumpscare.
krusty krab is a debtor's prison
Didn’t know what was gonna come next but yet another banger
Ah, but there *are* local police officers that enforce local laws. Given Neptune's lack of involvement in most affairs, its exceedingly unlikely that he would have personally created these laws and selected these officers. It seems to me that the ocean is a collection of self regulating city-states under the banner of a godking.
Given this, how would a strike or unionization fair against local policy and law, assuming it continued past the second day, or had to happen again?
On another note, assuming the unionization became prolonged, how would rival businesses react? What would be the broader economic and social effects on Bikini Bottom?
That is true, there are local police and a mayor in Bikini Bottom. I do think this weighs in favor of management. The police seem to mostly be concerned with violent criminals, and I doubt unfair labor practices rank highly on their list.
It's also likely that Krabs, as a successful local business owner, has major sway with local authorities. If the strike persisted, the police would probably intervene to clear the picket on Krabs' behalf.
Rival businesses probably wouldn't reach much except in token support of Krabs. The Chum Bucket might try to roll out an inferior competitor to the Krabby Patty, but they were trying to do that anyway. As we all know, the Krabby Patty is easy to imitate, but extremely hard to perfect, and its imitators are universally depicted as disgusting. Most businesses would not even attempt to fill the Krusty Krab's niche.
Good considerations, but I'm not fully convinced. Mr Krabs has been arrested multiple times, twice for theft, one of which was petty, and the other, while far more substantive, was not itself violent. Indeed, in the Season 6 episode 15 episode Patty Caper, he stole the krabby patty secret ingredient to avoid paying for it, and was arrested for such. And his political influence demonstrably didn't help him at all, as the judge, a recurring character, sentenced him to therefore give away patties for free for a day, displaying clear sympathies for the common man over the ruling classes; and moreover, the police then derived great joy from forcing him to watch.
I do agree that any competitors who tried to replace it would fail, and thus few would try. But we've also seen that the krusty krab, while not being the only restaurant, is nevertheless one of the most economically productive and vital businesses to the local population—even with little in the way of krabs giving back to the community except under duress, bikini bottom can and has become desolate without it. Presumably, businesses would still seek to fill the economic power vacuum, even if not by direct imitation
I think the answer here lies in your own response: As you so astutely noted, the Krusty Krab is a local, vital economic engine for Bikini Bottom, presumably with positive knock on effects for the entire metropolis. Local authorities and the elite of Bikini Bottom that influences them all have a strong incentive to keep the Krusty Krab open and thus keep business flowing for everyone. This also explain's the judge and police's behavior towards Krabs. They want him to continue operating his business, but also to ensure other businesses get theirs.
As is so common in real life, I suspect that the authorities want a fair, competitive, regulated market for goods & services, but not labor. Just like how Krabs stealing brings the profitability of other local businesses down, so too would an active labor movement. The local authorities would thus want to a) keep the Krab open at all costs, and b) nip organized labor in the bud. I do still think they would intervene on Krabs' behalf.
I absolutely agree they have an interest in ensuring the restaurant stays in business. However, as per the judicial system's own actions, they tend to act against his individual interest, in favor of the interest of the restaurant. I therefore imagine well enough that you're right that they would intervene to remove the barricade. But in so doing, they would enforce the union's demands also, recognizing that capitulating there is the best way to keep the doors open, to avoid another (albeit potentially illegal) strike or worse, quitting. The police would recognize just as well that no other workers can handle it.
Not only does Bikini Bottom have law enforcement, but the health inspector episode suggests there is also a Department of Health to ensure businesses comply with health regulations and standards. This suggests that the author’s grasp of Bikini Bottom’s bureaucratic infrastructure may be incomplete. For all we know, a department of labor could very well exist, though it may still be useless.
I will admit that I had failed to fully consider local Bikini Bottom regulatory authorities, assuming that Neptune would not allow his power to be diminished as such
Oooh very good point. Moreover, the judicial beuracracy is likely even more robust than I described, given that they are able to procure and maintain warrants from other jurisdictions, as seen with Mrs. Puff being wanted for crimes from far away and long before
If the "free cities" thesis is true this could be done via compacts with other local authorities
Enjoyed this much more than the previous one but both are bangers, how you met your wife is such a perfect meetcute for a postmodern romcom
Surely the indifference of Neptune is only a mixed disadvantage, for without an active state, Mr Krabs has no mechanism to enforce peonage against messrs Squarepants and Squidward. They need only strike again, or, potentially, turn to even more direct and militant measures e.g.https://www.labornotes.org/2013/07/chinese-workers-kidnap-factory-executives
I note, in this regard, that it is extremely common for squid to prey on crabs.
This is where we must consider local governance of Bikini Bottom, which does (as @eliasbeamish pointed out above) have a local police force. I would contend that this police force, along with the local population generally, would intervene to keep the two workers in bondage
fire
Once again, a banger. Can't wait to read this.
Really interesting name choice for the publication and about section is even more enlightening ✨
This is really superb. I love your writing, both the style and the topics you discuss.
Not the Bikini Bottom Dark Enlightenment
Well done
Per your Nov. 9th essay: "This is Sproutstack, the greatest publication on planet Earth" = statement of fact. Don't post any more scary photos, please.
Do the Fairly OddParents please, are Da Rules legally binding?
Or the Bee Movie. So much goin on there
Clicked the link to antislavery.org and audibly snorted with laughter.
SpongeBob lives in a minarchist monarchy that has been tormented by planktonic authoritarian governance.
SpongeBob actively supports the monarchy having previously restored it in the movie.
If the episode canonically comes after the movie, SpongeBob wields way more power than mere unionization.
The episode comes well before the movie, the movie being between seasons 3 and 4, so at this point he has no pull with Neptune whatsoever
Hyperstitionally, though, it is still the case that SpongeBob has the Mandate of Heaven such that if he willed it so, it would become.
I believe there is a large body of evidence for this even in the early seasons.
I can accept that SpongeBob has the Mandate of Heaven, but we must also accept that our noble Mr. SquarePants, and it pains me to say this, does not operate at a normal mental capacity. He has natural gifts for kitchen work, sure, but he's missing a few marbles. He destroys the Krusty Krab in this episode primarily because he doesn't understand that Mr. Tentacles' protest chants are metaphors. He acts out all the chants literally, and in so doing destroys the Krab. (In fairness Mr. Tentacles' chants are needlessly wordy, but so am I.)
We can say as a result that Mr. SquarePants never really understood what was going on with the strike. I would say he almost certainly lacks the necessary mental abilities to do so. He was "on board" in that he was on the picket, but he never really got it. In a similar way, I would dismiss any notion of him being a monarchist. I don't think he really understands what that means either.
I would agree that if he willed it, it would become, but he doesn't have the acuity of thought needed to will it.
I disagree there, I think that SpongeBob’s mental capacity is actually pretty good. I think that he is just overflows with supernal energies.
As you say, he fundamentally doesn’t understand the meaning of “Strike” — this is agreeable, but I think this lack is of loftiness not mental degradation.
I think SpongeBob is a spongia ludens par excellence. He is lofty, water-receptive, distributive, functional, cleanly, and supportive. He is the device of purification for both peasants and nobility. This role requires he has significant thinking capability, but it is absorptive rather than applicative.
SpongeBob is extropic and anti-radical, but also receptive to high fluidity. His support of monarchy is sensible as an extension of those properties.
I just wanna say—I haven’t been able to read your work yet (but I’ve bookmarked lots of it and I absolutely will), but this is real journalism, and I greatly appreciate it 🙏🏽