Does a company that racked up $45 billion in profits over the past five years really need to stick it to its employees? The answer depends on who’s asking. From any ordinary human standpoint, clearly no. From the perspective of Wall Street and corporate board rooms, the answer is always an enthusiastic yes.A company is mandated by capitalist law to maximize profits, so Verizon is only being a good capitalist. But the real fundamental question should be: is capitalism good for society? By trying to reform capitalism to recognize workers' interests and satisfy them is very much like asking a slaveholder to stop exploiting his slaves so much. You might accomplish some relief for a while, but ultimately the the slaveholder is motivated to get as much work out of his slaves as possible. Fighting for workers' rights and rewards is a losing battle as the history of unions has clearly illustrated. That doesn't mean workers should not use unions in the present to fend of exploitation by powerful employers, but it does mean that the ultimate solution is not unions, but revolution and the establishment of a system based on equality.
The system of capitalism only benefits the tiny section of society called capitalists. Its history has clearly shown that it is not good for the vast majority of any society, and its future portends more inequality, poverty, climate destabilization, and wars.
