Mick Hume And Johnathan Pearce On Cristiano Ronaldo’s Slave Labour
JOHNATHAN Pearce looks at Cristiano Ronaldo’s slave labour, and Mick Hume’s reaction:
But the recent comments that Ronaldo’s contract amounts to a form of slavery is stretching the use of language to breaking point, contrary to what Mick Hume, a self-described “red” both in political and sporting terms, says. If a person signs a contract to work for a bank or football team for a minimum of say, four years, he must serve that contract out, unless there was any clear proof that he signed under conditions of duress. A footballer who signs terms with a club binding him into a four-year contract is not selling himself into slavery. It is not as if Mr Ronaldo was kidnapped, frogmarched into the club and forced to play. It is not even as though he was starving, and so desperate for a job that he was prepared to do anything to get a job. Marxists of old like Mr Hume used to argue that workers, who had no reserves of cash to live off, were “coerced” into signing work contracts and hence exploited, an argument that might have just about held water in the early 19th century when thousands of people were living on the edge of starvation, but hardly applies now.
He can always withdraw his labour, or play badly and see how Ferguson treats him then…
Posted: 17th, July 2008 | In: Back pages, Money Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
