Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Companies Spend on Equipment, Not Workers

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Companies Spend on Equipment, Not Workers

Click here to access article by Catherine Rampell from NY Times.

This piece illustrates how the products that working people create are used against them under the system of capitalism. However, this practice is also ultimately devastating for society. (As you can see, contradictions abound under capitalism.) But then who among capitalists care about society? After all, "there's no such thing as society, there are only individuals and families." Of course, as sociopaths they are concerned only about their individuals and families.

Under this system labor is seen only as a cost which takes away profits. Hence, the perpetual drive to drive down costs by using machines, crushing or co-opting unions, and finding cheaper labor elsewhere. With more workers unemployed, who can afford to buy their products? You don't need a university education to see where this leads.

An economy under this system is not really designed to meet human needs, but to create wealth for a few. And it has succeeded brilliantly! But for the 99% + of the world's population, it is a disaster.