9/25/00
Economics in Film
In the film, Matewan, director John Sayles paints a 1920’s picture of a small, West Virginia coal-mining town. Over the course of the film, this seemingly American Township reveals itself as the site of feudal hardship for its citizens. The Stone Mountain Coal Company was the sole employer in Matewan. The company’s laborers struggled for autonomy and for freedom from the company’s grasp. The ideal method for this achieving such autonomy was organization of a union. This idea of union struck a cord with the company, and the conflict between employer and employee soon escalated into a battle. The laborers began to realize, in certain terms, that the Stone Mountain Coal Company is not simply a corporation but a feudal power. These townspeople were living in a capitalist country, but they were controlled by a feudal enterprise in Matewan, West Virginia. The coal mining business built a town that was then forced to rely on that company through monopoly control, bondage contract, and the organization of their production. Thus, the Stone Mountain Coal Company created a feudal monopoly over the town. The business had dominant control over all aspects of their laborer’s lives.
Stone
Mountain Coal Company systematically established Matewan as a feudal
society. In order for feudal society to
be created, it is essential that a feudal lord exert monopoly control over
resources. Stone Mountain exerted
control over all of the economic resources in this town. First, since it was only coal company in the
town, the business had possession of the existing natural resources. This exclusive ownership meant that Stone
Mountain consequently became the sole source of income in the town. In a capitalistic economy, a labor market
should exist. However, there was no
labor market in Matewan, since there was only one company for which one could
work. Next, the power gained from the
mining business also allowed them to monopolize the economy of the entire
town. This monopoly enabled them to
then control all economic and environmental processes. Because there was no competition from other
mining companies or from a diversity of businesses, Stone Mountain held the
ultimate power to own all forms of enterprise, including retail and real estate
businesses. Stone Mountain controlled
the purchases of their employees’ supplies, their food, and their housing. The worker then had to go to their employer
for all of their economic needs.
Competition is also a necessary factor in capitalism, but no competition
could exist in an atmosphere where both the source of income and the outlets
for spending that income were so rigidly controlled.
The only competition that
did exist was competition among local workers and workers brought in from
elsewhere for the positions available at the company. In the neo-classical form of economics, there needs to be some
form of labor market to keep the employer-worker relationship in check. In Matewan, there was no alternative source
of employment for those who did not wish to work at Stone Mountain. Those who were unhappy with wages or working
conditions were not free to leave and seek employment elsewhere in the
town. Their only redress was to go on
strike. However, by bringing in scab
labor when employees decided to take a job action in the form of a strike,
Stone Mountain effectively created competition for the existing positions,
leaving unhappy employees without work and allowing the company to continue
production without them. Thus, the
lack of alternative employment and the availability of replacement workers
allowed the business to provide less than adequate conditions for workers and
continue to thrive.
Along with monopolizing the
economy of the town, Stone Mountain Mining held their laborers in a bondage
contract. The term “bondage contract”
reminds many, historically, of a feudal Europe. In Matewan, West Virginia, this contract tied a laborer to a boss
after it was signed upon hire. As a
requirement, this contract for hire stated that supplies, housing, and food
would be provided by the company, for a price docked from the worker’s
pay. The contract also abolished
certain freedoms, such as the right to form a union and the freedom to choose
where to purchase necessities. This
lack of choice is equivalent to the absence of capitalism. Furthermore to attract new sources of labor,
Stone Mountain would falsely advertise work by promising advancement and other
benefits. This strategy put more stress
on a free labor market for the workers, and it permits Stone Mountain to lower
working conditions even more because there were now more workers fighting for
the same number of jobs. Therefore,
these bondage contracts placed a monopoly upon both the economic and the
cultural processes. Stone Mountain
produced all the good and services for Matewan, while the only transfer of
dialogue between the worker and the employer was the contract that prohibited
the communication between the workers by not allowing them to form a union.
Stone
Mountain Company also had to establish an organization of production. The company strictly enforced the rules and
regulations set by the contract. This
was accomplished by using their own law enforcement, which evoked similarities
to the knights of medieval Europe. These “knights” used violence, force and intimidation to assure
that the laborers would continue their job.
Again, this enforcement was used to limit the freedom of the workers. It was easier for Stone Mountain to
eliminate protest by force than to have to negotiate with angry, empowered,
workers. When the workers revolted in
Matewan, there were verying degrees of force used to suppress those
uprisings. First, jobs were taken away,
and then, supplies, food and housing were removed. Finally, both sides engaged in a fatal battle with the “knights,”
and many workers were killed. This
occurred because of the unchecked power Stone Mountain had over its
workers. The company was able to take
away all of the necessities of life because they owned all of the stores and
houses. In addition, Stone Mountain
ultimately controlled the political processes of the town. Although, there was a mayor and a sheriff of
Matewan, they power did not extend as high politically as did that of the
company’s. Thus, Stone Mountain was able to create its own laws and
regulations.
The
Stone Mountain Mining Company created a feudal society in Matewan. The resulting violence and chaos that
resulted was created by the imbalance of power in the economy. There was no real labor market and no
competition, both of which are fundamental, economic necessities. Workers were
faced with one of two choices: to become a miner or to live in the wilderness,
hunting for food. Many problems arose
because there were no checks and balances.
The workers began to feel disconnected and trapped, resulting in a poor
morale. The company gained too much
power and took advantage of the worker trapped by the circumstances created by
the company. And rather than viewing
their employees as valuable resources, the company came to regard them as an
expendable material. A woman from the
town shared that after an accident in the mine, the company could have sprayed
down the walls of the mine to prevent further explosions. However, because it was too expensive, a
measure that could have saved lives and prevented injury was not taken. These types of abuses of power are caused
by a feudal economy. A boy at the end
of “Matewan” stated: “We got as much help as we can stand.” The help that this town needed involved
allowing them the economic choices that are supposedly supplied in a capitalist
economy.