My husband, and I were talking the other day about the state of the world in general, and our appliances in particular. We have a sense that we share with a lot of people that while the price of goods are increasing, their durability and reliability is decreasing. We had just bought a replacement stove as our old stove had died, in my mind a premature death, after only 5 and 1/2 years. In addition our expensive refrigerator leaked, and our very expensive clothes washer was not as trustworthy as one we bought in 1998.
Considering all this, it struck me that Capitalism is greedy. Greedy in its inception and in its implementation . Now if we consider corporations the building blocks of capitalism, we can clearly see the greed. The only operational goal of most corporations, is to increase profit. The executives and boards of corporations are not concerned, except in the most superficial way, with the impact their ever increasing quest for profits has on workers, the environment, or their customers. Indeed most of the people who run corporations do not seem to be concerned even with the usefulness of their end product. Their goals are ever larger profits, and large personal payoffs.
I can easily list examples of the expression of this greed. For one productivity is at an all time high in the United States. This means each worker is producing more goods and services then previously. However the wages of workers, adjusting for inflation have fallen.. The diminishing of Union power - a goal of current capitalism- has resulted, in less job security, less freedom of movement within, and between companies, loss of pensions and other benefits, wage cuts instead of wage raises, and a general lack of respect for the workers. This increased productivity coupled with the loss of real wages and benefits has resulted in all time high profits for corporations.
The trend to take manufacturing to China or anyplace where low wages and horrible work conditions are tolerated is also an expression of greed. My experience in Fiji was that low paying jobs that were filled by Fijians were being exported to China, where even lower wages prevailed. . Corporation are ever seeking a lower paid work force, even at the expense of the erosion of their own country of origin.
There is also the reliability and durability factor Today's manufactured goods are made to be replaced. No longer is good design or superior workmanship important. The important thing is constant consumption, which leads to revenue for the manufacturer. Shoddy goods, no matter what they cost, are the norm. Constant replacement of goods with resultant profits for corporations, is the goal.
.It is also clear to me that workers are caught in a downward spiral of pay, respect, and life style. In my youth working people could send their children to college, buy and keep houses, expect to retire at a decent age, and generally depend on the companies they worked for to value their contribution. One adult worker per family was common. Stay at home Mom's were the norm. None of this is true in the current market. In a two partner family both of the adults must work to support the family. In this way women's choice has once again been curtailed.
Nor only are blue color families effected. The middle class, that means those of us who have been educated and promised job security and satisfaction are no longer the recipients of those ideals. Even in those professions once considered privileged, the required amount of work has increased exponentially. Everyone is expected to be responsive to work 24/7. Wages for most professional are also stagnant. The middle class is being eliminated by corporate greed.
Public servants are pushed to extremes and then denigrated by the very rich as being useless. In the public sphere cuts in funding have impacted services once thought important to civil society. The refusal of the very rich, who are those who own stock in, control, and run corporations, to pay taxes in another expression of greed, and lack of compassion. Basically these people are unwilling to support the society in which they live.
On the international stage corporations often lead foreign policy. The long and unsuccessful wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have resulted in huge profits for large construction companies such as Halliburton, and arms manufacturers and dealers. The war has also fueled a new corporate giant, XE corporation, once called Blackwater. This corporation supplies mercenaries to the war zones, and makes massive profits from taxpayer money. The corporations make profits from war, our country suffer debt and the death of its citizens. We are transferring our public funds to these corporations. An interesting organization and web site illuminating these issues is run by two Israeli women. The organization is called Who Profits. The site address is www.whoprofits.org. It is an eye opening list.
I could go on about the expression of the greed in our society, however I would like to look toward a solutions for this issue. It is clear to me that capitalism as we know it is becoming obsolete. Like the dinosaur, it is too big and consumes too much to survive.
Professor Richard D. Wolff is a proponent of worker owned and managed corporations. This is not a new idea. One of the most famous examples of worker owned and managed corporation is operating successfully in the Basque section of Spain. These companies are called the Mondragon cooperatives, and employes about 100,000 people. Also here in the US there are an ever increasing numbers of worker owned and managed companies, many of them models of success. Wolff's recent book "American Beyond Capitalism" discusses this structure. I suggest consulting his website, www.rdwolff.com, for very interesting articles and discussions on this and related topics. Wolff is also the author of a book called "Capitalism Hits the Fan".
Worker owned corporations would not outsource their work, would not pay exorbitant bonuses to bosses, and would not demand ever increasing work for ever lower wages, and hopefully not risk its members lives in useless wars.. The goal of these worker owned and managed corporations would be not only profit for the few, but the enrichment of all the involved members. A society with a strong working class, and we are all workers unless our income comes for investments, is a society that will sustain itself and its members. Our society now ruled by the greed of Capitalism cannot or will not do this.
Considering all this, it struck me that Capitalism is greedy. Greedy in its inception and in its implementation . Now if we consider corporations the building blocks of capitalism, we can clearly see the greed. The only operational goal of most corporations, is to increase profit. The executives and boards of corporations are not concerned, except in the most superficial way, with the impact their ever increasing quest for profits has on workers, the environment, or their customers. Indeed most of the people who run corporations do not seem to be concerned even with the usefulness of their end product. Their goals are ever larger profits, and large personal payoffs.
I can easily list examples of the expression of this greed. For one productivity is at an all time high in the United States. This means each worker is producing more goods and services then previously. However the wages of workers, adjusting for inflation have fallen.. The diminishing of Union power - a goal of current capitalism- has resulted, in less job security, less freedom of movement within, and between companies, loss of pensions and other benefits, wage cuts instead of wage raises, and a general lack of respect for the workers. This increased productivity coupled with the loss of real wages and benefits has resulted in all time high profits for corporations.
The trend to take manufacturing to China or anyplace where low wages and horrible work conditions are tolerated is also an expression of greed. My experience in Fiji was that low paying jobs that were filled by Fijians were being exported to China, where even lower wages prevailed. . Corporation are ever seeking a lower paid work force, even at the expense of the erosion of their own country of origin.
There is also the reliability and durability factor Today's manufactured goods are made to be replaced. No longer is good design or superior workmanship important. The important thing is constant consumption, which leads to revenue for the manufacturer. Shoddy goods, no matter what they cost, are the norm. Constant replacement of goods with resultant profits for corporations, is the goal.
.It is also clear to me that workers are caught in a downward spiral of pay, respect, and life style. In my youth working people could send their children to college, buy and keep houses, expect to retire at a decent age, and generally depend on the companies they worked for to value their contribution. One adult worker per family was common. Stay at home Mom's were the norm. None of this is true in the current market. In a two partner family both of the adults must work to support the family. In this way women's choice has once again been curtailed.
Nor only are blue color families effected. The middle class, that means those of us who have been educated and promised job security and satisfaction are no longer the recipients of those ideals. Even in those professions once considered privileged, the required amount of work has increased exponentially. Everyone is expected to be responsive to work 24/7. Wages for most professional are also stagnant. The middle class is being eliminated by corporate greed.
Public servants are pushed to extremes and then denigrated by the very rich as being useless. In the public sphere cuts in funding have impacted services once thought important to civil society. The refusal of the very rich, who are those who own stock in, control, and run corporations, to pay taxes in another expression of greed, and lack of compassion. Basically these people are unwilling to support the society in which they live.
On the international stage corporations often lead foreign policy. The long and unsuccessful wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have resulted in huge profits for large construction companies such as Halliburton, and arms manufacturers and dealers. The war has also fueled a new corporate giant, XE corporation, once called Blackwater. This corporation supplies mercenaries to the war zones, and makes massive profits from taxpayer money. The corporations make profits from war, our country suffer debt and the death of its citizens. We are transferring our public funds to these corporations. An interesting organization and web site illuminating these issues is run by two Israeli women. The organization is called Who Profits. The site address is www.whoprofits.org. It is an eye opening list.
I could go on about the expression of the greed in our society, however I would like to look toward a solutions for this issue. It is clear to me that capitalism as we know it is becoming obsolete. Like the dinosaur, it is too big and consumes too much to survive.
Professor Richard D. Wolff is a proponent of worker owned and managed corporations. This is not a new idea. One of the most famous examples of worker owned and managed corporation is operating successfully in the Basque section of Spain. These companies are called the Mondragon cooperatives, and employes about 100,000 people. Also here in the US there are an ever increasing numbers of worker owned and managed companies, many of them models of success. Wolff's recent book "American Beyond Capitalism" discusses this structure. I suggest consulting his website, www.rdwolff.com, for very interesting articles and discussions on this and related topics. Wolff is also the author of a book called "Capitalism Hits the Fan".
Worker owned corporations would not outsource their work, would not pay exorbitant bonuses to bosses, and would not demand ever increasing work for ever lower wages, and hopefully not risk its members lives in useless wars.. The goal of these worker owned and managed corporations would be not only profit for the few, but the enrichment of all the involved members. A society with a strong working class, and we are all workers unless our income comes for investments, is a society that will sustain itself and its members. Our society now ruled by the greed of Capitalism cannot or will not do this.
No comments:
Post a Comment