There Are Good Alternatives to US Capitalism, But No Way to Get There

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/books/there-are-good-alternatives-us-capitalism-no-way-get-there


The following is an excerpt from Jerry Mander's new book The Capitalism Papers: Fatal Flaws of an Obsolete System (Counterpoint, 2013):

Which Way Out?

Let’s start with some good news. There is no shortage of good alternative ideas, plans, and strategies being put forth by activist groups and “new economy” thinkers in the United States and all countries of the world. Some seek to radically reshape the current capitalist system. Others advocate abandoning it for something new (or old). There is also a third option, a merger of the best points of other existing or proposed options, toward a “hybrid” economic model that can cope with modern realities.

Meanwhile, U.S.-style laissez-faire capitalists, who now dominate the politics and economy in this country, continue to argue that all solutions must be determined by the “free market.” But the free market does not focus on the needs of democracy, or the implications of rampant inequity, or the catastrophic problems of the natural world. The free market is interested in one thing: expanding wealth. That is its only agenda. Nothing else matters, at least until the system collapses. Klaus Schwab had it right. And the situation is not much better abroad.

Ecological economist Brian Davey reported from the Beyond Growth Congress in Berlin (2011) that there was “much talk of the need for democratization to facilitate the post-growth economy. However, there was great skepticism for how much could be achieved. . . . The grip of corporate lobby interests over politics at national [U.S.] and European levels is too great. The state is a weak instrument for the kind of change that has to happen.” (Adbusters, December 2011)

In the same issue, Simon Critchley, professor of philosophy at the New School, New York, concurred: “Citizens still believe that governments represent the interests of those who elect them, and have the power to create effective change. But they don’t, and they can’t. We do not live in democracies. We inhabit plutocracies; government by the rich.”

[cantbeserious]

1. The Oligarchs And Corporations Own And Control The System

eom

[Fire Walk With Me]

2. Globalization is one big fueler of Plutonomy. The TPP must be stopped. n/t

[xchrom]

3. ...

[handmade34]

4. +1 n/t

[Enthusiast]

5. The TPP must be stopped!

[Starry Messenger]

6. Capitalism has no solutions.

Eventually we are going to get to socialism or kill the planet.

[Civilization2]

7. Great article, the book sounds right on point. Hitting the root of our problems.

More from the article;
...
"little point in describing ways to modify governance, because all the currently available forms and instruments of power are themselves inaccessible, and no longer valid."
...
"at some point, it will become obvious that our economy will not truly recover until American capitalism is refashioned, stripped of its self-aggrandizing excesses, and made to serve the interests of society rather than the other way around . . . this will require deep structural change, not simply new politics."
...
"Capitalism compels us to be greedy, callous, and petty. It takes what the Greeks called pleonexia—an endless hunger for more and more—and transforms it from a tawdry and dangerous vice into the central virtue of the system. The sanctity of growth stems from this moral alchemy, as does the elevation of market competition into a model of human affairs."
...
"We don’t want military contractors like General Electric buying up mass media. We don’t want Rupert Murdoch owning hundreds of newspapers and broadcast outlets. We don’t want some rich guy coming into our neighborhood and buying up all the property and local businesses for himself. We don’t want a few companies like Google or Apple or Facebook dominating global communications in every form, as seems to be rapidly developing."
...
"Theoretically, we could quickly start mitigating inequity problems. We could require that the wealthy pay taxes at the same rate as the middle class, or at “surplus wealth” rates (graduated rates that went as high as 90 percent) that rose from the presidencies of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman through Dwight Eisenhower. We could/should have “excess profits” taxes on corporations to cover their externalized costs, or their depletion of the public-resources commons. We could ban tax havens and the many subsidized tax rates on financial transactions and inheritance. We could establish maximum and minimum guaranteed income levels. We could place controls on salary ratios within corporations. That’s all good.

We could have better guarantees for workers’ rights and better public services for everyone—health, education, transportation, childcare, elder care. We could prevent corporations from abandoning local communities and moving to China. And we could establish a new, more realistic relationship with the natural world, one based on equality, mutual dependence, and the full acknowledgment of limits."
...
"Obviously, such changes could happen in the United States only if the powers that be were willing to allow them. They won’t. In the United States, ruled by the most ideologically rigid form of capitalism in the world, any level of government engagement, intervention, or partnership in anything but military adventures quickly gets labeled “socialist” or “communist.” It makes transformation very difficult."


Yes the article (and seemingly the book) nails it, the needed changes are obvious, with many in use around the world, and those are regularly and actively attacked from American Capitalism! We must take these Oligarchs down,. there really is no other way. Start by removing your support from the systems THEY control and building systems WE control. Degrowth, Permaculture, Slow Money, Relocalize,. etc.

[Flatulo]

8. The people who make the laws in this country aren't just part of the problem; they are the problem.

An unimaginable amount of money is spent maintaining the status quo, and indeed, facilitating the destruction of the middle class and the total accumulation of wealth in the hands of the few.

The only way that I can see real change happening is a total, 100% economic boycott of all consumer goods. That would crash the stock market and eliminate everyone's life savings, but it would bring down the system, ala Fight Club's Project Mayhem.

On edit: Maybe a more measured action would be the complete and utter boycott of all goods, products and services that are made partially or wholly in China. This would put the hurt on thousands of companies who have gleefully tossed millions of workers under the bus.

[alc]

9. there are ways to get there

Unions, wealthy liberals, and any anti-capitalist can start working on it in our "free market" system. Pool their money to start

* buying struggling companies to build them back as non-profit/employee-owned businesses rather than letting someone else buy them to sell them off in pieces

* create VC funds that will promise entrepreneur support and a big personal payoff (on success) but once that payoff is done the fund will take back a small profit to fund more startups, then run the business as a non-profit/employee-owned business

* buy franchises and run them non-profit

* create a kickstarter-type system where a group of people can raise money to buy a franchise or start a business which they will work for and own. any profit over $x/year/employee will have to be used to future franchises and none of the employees can make more than 2x any other. So anyone can easily invest in a not-for-profit business with no personal return possible but knowing that they are expanding the not-for-profit economy.

...

If a corporation created by any of these efforts provides a superior product or service (quality and/or price) they will be able use use free market principles to grow the not-for-profit economy.

The only way to get profit (or obscene profit) out of US corporations is to get people running corporations without a profit motive. As long as the only people taking risks on businesses are people with a profit motive, we will have a profit-driven economy. Nothing will change overnight, but there are ways to get things started and begin building up funds (with small profits on each success to reinvest) There are plenty of people who seem interested - the key is to get them organized so they can start creating not-for-profit businesses and provide the necessary support (legal, financial, etc)

My guess is that they'd get the customer support pretty easily if they provide a comparable product with an employee-owned, not-for-profit business that works in the free market (how can anyone argue with that - either capitalists or anti-capitalists)