On August 6, 2007 the Crandall Canyon mine suffered a collapse which trapped and killed six miners. The mine is located near Huntington, Utah and a large source of jobs in the area is coal related. The event occurred because of dangerous mining practices and not taking caution after a similar incident occurred in March, which offered “clear ‘red flags’ indicating that the mine was unstable” (Urbina). From the conflict perspective we can see two groups, Murray Energy Corporation (bourgeoisie) and the coal miners (proletariat). In order to evaluate how the bourgeoisie exploited the miners, we have to look at how the proletariat can be exploited. The event impacted much of the community in the city, the families of the deceased, and the leadership
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We can see that this is very clearly corporate crime due to the fact that it caused loss of multiple lives, and was very costly. We can also see that this crime was due to the capitalistic nature of the mining company, and the level of punishment was also beneficial for the capitalists in this situation. No one was imprisoned for this crime, and no individual came to see any direct punishment for the crime, simply a large fine. Looking from a conflict perspective we can see, that not directly penalizing anybody in this situation helps the leadership of the mining company stay in power despite such a grievous crime. In our capitalistic economy we can see that we emphasize on keeping companies with jobs in business, over delivering equal justice across the different classes.
We can clearly see, from the evidence laid out before us, that the miners at this company were exploited by Murray Energy. The miners did not want to leave a job that places them in the middle class bracket and end up in the working class bracket, so they continued to work in hazardous conditions. According to the Weberian Model of Class, these workers are able to join the middle class with as little as a high school degree, something that would normally be limited to the working
We can see that this is very clearly corporate crime due to the fact that it caused loss of multiple lives, and was very costly. We can also see that this crime was due to the capitalistic nature of the mining company, and the level of punishment was also beneficial for the capitalists in this situation. No one was imprisoned for this crime, and no individual came to see any direct punishment for the crime, simply a large fine. Looking from a conflict perspective we can see, that not directly penalizing anybody in this situation helps the leadership of the mining company stay in power despite such a grievous crime. In our capitalistic economy we can see that we emphasize on keeping companies with jobs in business, over delivering equal justice across the different classes.
We can clearly see, from the evidence laid out before us, that the miners at this company were exploited by Murray Energy. The miners did not want to leave a job that places them in the middle class bracket and end up in the working class bracket, so they continued to work in hazardous conditions. According to the Weberian Model of Class, these workers are able to join the middle class with as little as a high school degree, something that would normally be limited to the working