Surviving Capitalism (Not) : VW chose profit over the planet

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, October 3, 2015

VW chose profit over the planet

Click here to access article by Tyler Zimmer from Socialist Worker.

The public will be encouraged to conclude that this scandal is the result of cynical, deceptive actions on the part of a few corporate executives--"a few bad apples"--at the top of Volkswagen. But thinking about the issue in this way would be a mistake, since it would lead us to overlook the larger, systemic problems with capitalism that this scandal reveals.

All corporations must choose profit over the planet and everything else. Because all corporations must preserve and increase market share, because our societies are governed by these same disciples of capitalism, because the same people own our media and these people will make sure that their media coverage will narrowly focuse on this "one bad apple" while providing a deluge of messages about "green capitalism", Volkswagen will receive a slap on the wrist with a fine which will be regarded as a cost of doing business, and no executives will go to jail. You see, crime pays when perpetrated by a major corporation.

The problem is not Volkswagen, it is capitalism. Yes, the problem is systemic!