Capitalism

‘Give us austerity and we’ll turn to fascism.’
Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism by Yanis Varoufakis (9/24/2023) the Guardian

Why you can not have a Capitalist Democracy! (Noam Chomsky)

There is a constant struggle between capitalism and democracy. There have been ebbs and flows where democracy looks like its winning, to reign in those powerful forces, but the fundamental reality is most of the governments decisions today are substantially by powerful corporate interests. clearly, capitalism is winning. Charles Lewis: Center For Public Integrity in the film "Why We Fight".

"Private capital tends to become concentrated in few hands, partly because of competition among the capitalists, and partly because technological development and the increasing division of labor encourage the formation of larger units of production at the expense of the smaller ones. The result of these developments is an oligarchy of private capital the enormous power of which cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society. This is true since the members of legislative bodies are selected by political parties, largely financed or otherwise influenced by private capitalists who, for all practical purposes, separate the electorate from the legislature. The consequence is that the representatives of the people do not in fact sufficiently protect the interests of the underprivileged sections of the population. Moreover, under existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information (press, radio, education). It is thus extremely difficult, and indeed in most cases quite impossible, for the individual citizen to come to objective conclusions and to make intelligent use of his political rights."
Einstein on Politics, Rowe and Schulmann. Monthly Review, May 1949.

The market fundamentalists told us to love “the free market” and loathe the government. And because we heard that argument so many times, in so many ways, and from so many sources, we began to believe it. We lost the caveats. We forgot the lessons of history. And we bought the myth that the invisible hand could do things even Adam Smith didn’t think it could do. The Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us to Loathe Government and Love the Free Market by Naomi Oreskes, Henry Charles Lea Professor of the History of Science, and Erik M. Conway

When there is plenty of competition capitalism works well, but it has a strong tendency to consolidate creating monopolies, an oligarchy, extreme wealth disparities, which the US has done again.

It is almost inevitable that wealth disparities become extreme, leading to few very wealthy, and many poor and miserable. Capitalism has a natural tendency to become unfair.

It wants to keep labor expense down, so uses many creative ways to do that: opposing unions keeps democracy out of the workplace, keeping the minimum wage down, if that fails move offshore where pay scales are much less, child labor allowed, and ultimately even slavery can minimize expenses. In US prisons slavery is still allowed and profitable. The US has been stripped of manufacturing, factories either abandoned or turned into housing.

Social structures change as oligopoly strengthens, government priorities do too. Oligarchs work to minimize their taxes, oppose social supports, fortify borders, expand military, and game government to avoid regulation. Finally, government becomes fascist with a charismatic demagogue dictator who exploits the worst motives of the population: fear. greed. racism, sexism, religion, xenophobia, ...

Which is to say capitalism naturally gravitates to the political right and results in government that does not serve people. So here we are faced with the possibility that Trump will complete the transition to a fascist state, in a collapse much like Wiemar 1933.

For the next time some idiot tries to tell you the GOP is 'The Party of Business' (5/3/2023)

American capitalism returns to the Gilded Age (2/17/2023)

It's Time to Call It What It Is—A Capitalism-Induced Ecological Crisis (9/16/2022)

Fire Front (10/11/2021) George Monbiot

Should we save capitalism? | Slavoj Žižek, Paul Krugman, Yanis Varoufakis, Shoshana Zuboff, and more – iai video

According to a trio of German economists... economic crises from the Great Depression in the 1930s to the great Recession in the 2000s were followed by a statistically significant increase in extremist political movements. Looking at twenty different countries over a 140 year period, they found that "political parties on the far right appear to be the biggest political beneficiaries of a financial crash," putting a severe strain on modern democracies." Yascha Mounk in his book The Great Experiment, Why Diverse Democracies Fall Apart and How they can Endure

"Capitalism is like cancer. Once it enters a host country's economy, it will spread and devour labor, the environment, and any other impediment to the growth of profit. Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell. The essence of capitalism is to turn nature into commodities and commodities into capital. However, the world cannot continue to get richer as the earth becomes poorer. Just as the only inevitability in life is death, the only inevitability about our capitalist way of life, is the death of our planet [and our civilization]." Garikai Chengu

The United States has a very small elite, controlling an increasing share of the economy, and a large and increasing bottom, with almost no resources – forty percent of Americans can’t cover a four-hundred dollar calamity, whether it’s a child getting sick or a car breaking down. The three richest Americans, Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Bill Gates (Microsoft) and Warren Buffet (Berkshire Hathaway, are worth more than the bottom half of the US population combined, testimony too how much wealth there is at the top and how little there is at the bottom. Joseph E. Stiglitz in his book People, Power and Profits (pg 5))

Destroying the world’s living systems and draining its wealth are not perversions of capitalism. They are capitalism. Fire Front: George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 7th October 2021

The Neoliberal Looting of America (7/2/2020)

When Republicans, like Reagan, say they don't like government, it's because they want to free the market to rule, and sew distrust of govenment. That's why they want deregulation, privatization, austerity, tax cuts, and authoritarianism become the GOP mantra. Market fundamentalism leads to fascism.

Capitalism does not assure democracy. It is at home in authoritarian States like China, and actually is a threat to democracy.

It has regular cycles of boom and bust which are unnecessary with proper regulation.

The problem with capitalism is it almost inevitably leads to extreme wealth inequality, which is not only unfair, but gains political power, and has many other toxic side effects. Corporate rollups destroy competition, a requirement for a healthy market, and create oligarchs. For every obscenely wealthy CEO, there tend to be millions in poverty. The economy produces luxury goods more, and volatile boom and bust cycles. It is amoral and will pollute the environment, endanger workers, allow child labor, produce deadly opiods for millions, only support what is profitable, and unregulated.

It cannot protect the commons because that is not profitable. Government needs to keep the market within civilized boundaries if we are not to experience climate collapse.

It does not protect public health, as seen in the pandemic.

If Corporate governance included worker representation, many of them could not have moved off-shore. Most of them suppress unions as much as possible, which depresses wages and benefits as well. As Warren Buffett said, they want a moat, and buy up competition so that prices skyrocket. Private equity dismantles businesses like Toys R US, and buys up homes to rent out at exorbitant amounts. CEO pay should not be unlimited. Many don’t pay taxes because their bribes of [lobby] government pay off handsomely.

Just as capitalism has concentrated wealth, it uses its power to buy our politics. It has concentrated many industries including media that floods us with misinformation and propaganda. Dysfunctional media has produced depoliticized voters and suppressed democracy.

Main stream (privatized) media has an agenda, and it is hard right (corporate), even when people are not. As it becomes more concentrated, it becomes more right-wing. Here are some stories it does not tell:

Remember how Reagan was 'teflon man' ? Broadcasters are mostly 'conservative' activists. They got Bush into office, covered up his election shenanigans, cheered for his war, played down his trademark incompetence, gave him a free pass on his many disastrous policies, excused his lawlessness, missed the signs of the coming economic collapse, and mostly do not comment or analyze real issues. Documentaries have mostly disappeared, newsrooms downsized, investigative reporting shrunk, advertising (spam by another name) increased, and right-wing shock jocks are proliferating. Most of the pundits are right-wing party hacks. Other views have been suppressed. Now, as a result of a recent Supreme Court decision, corporations can use their deep pockets to influence (buy) elections. Citizens United was a cash bonanza for broadcasters.

Most U.S. problems have been created or ignored by Republicans, the party of the wealthy

Republican policy hastened destruction of the middle class: whether by opposition to social programs, organized labor, cuts to Social Security, tax cuts for the wealthy which loaded additional burdens for the 99%, repeal of the estate tax, or cuts to other social programs, Republicans hasten our path to aristocracy

Corporations are so powerful now that they can buy Congress, control media, override democracy, and set us on a path to destruction. Democracy has seriously weakened. Government run by corporations is, by definition, fascist.

FDR’s Second Bill of Rights should be added to the Constitution guaranteeing healthcare, education, housing, decent wage, economic protection against sickness, accident, old age, or unemployment.

The proven solution is highly progressive taxes to pay for a solid floor of social programs.

Nordic countries have strong social programs, perform better, and are happier. The US appears on the brink of civil war.

I don't know who needs to hear this, but an economy controlled by a handful of oligarchs isn't a "free market."
— Robert Reich (@RBReich) September 6, 2023

Capitalists view “well regulated capitalism” as a temporary setback. We’ve had it. Capitalism always overcomes even if it takes decades. The drive for ever extending profits ensures the Capitalists will relentlessly grind away at our little regulations. Capitalism is the problem
— John Blackman (@DefyMasters) May 4, 2020

The choice we face is between unfettered capitalism and democracy. You cannot have both." A Despot in Disguise: One Man's Mission to Rip Up Democracy

...market systems turn you into a sociopath - you're out there for yourself, and you don't give a damn about anyone else. That's a market system. That itself is destructive. Noam Chomsky

Under American Capitalism:

🔹78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck

🔹140 million Americans are poor or low-income

🔹Over the past 30 years the top 1% gained $21 trillion in wealth while bottom 50% lost $900 billion

AMERICANS SHOULD BE AFRAID OF CAPITALISM NOT SOCIALISM.
— Ryan Knight 🌹 (@ProudSocialist) June 15, 2020

"Markets enable people to pursue their private interests through free exchange with others, but markets are not designed to take care of common interests such as the preservation of peace, the protection of the environment or the maintenance of the market mechanism itself. Such common interests require political institutions...." The Bubble of American Supremacy: Correcting the Misuse of American Power: Page 196 George Soros.

Capitalism — the logic of subordinating every aspect of life to the accumulation of profit (i.e. the “rules of the market”) — has become today’s “common sense.” It has become almost unthinkable to imagine coherent alternatives to this logic, even when considering the most basic of human needs — food, water, healthcare, education. Though many have an understanding of capitalism’s failings, there is a resignation towards its inevitability. Margaret Thatcher’s famous words, “There Is No Alternative,” no longer need to be spoken, they are simply accepted as normal, non-ideological, neutral. What sustains the tragic myth that There Is No Alternative? Those committed to building a more just future must begin re-thinking and revealing the taken-for-granted assumptions that make capitalism “common sense,” and bring these into the realm of mainstream public debate in order to widen horizons of possibility. We can’t leave this task to the pages of peer-reviewed journals and classrooms of social theory — these conversations must enter also into the family dining rooms and TV screens. Andrea Brower 1/25/2013

In case you haven't noticed, Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century is a publishing sensation. It has already sold 200,000 copies, making it the 50 Shades of Grey of economics books. It is being reviewed on the internet by supporters and critics who self-evidently have not read all of its 577 pages. And it has jolted the right, who are scrabbling around for an answer to its main message: rising inequality is killing capitalism. (From a review of Thomas Pikkety's Capitalism)

pic.twitter.com/HhY4XlbTeR
— 🇸🇴⭑ ☭ ⭑ Justice for the Damned ⭑ ☭ ⭑🇸🇴 (@tekstone) October 19, 2020

The free marketeers have a deep all-abiding faith in laissez-faire for it is a faith that serves them well. It means no government oversight, no being held accountable for the environmental disasters they perpetrate. Like greedy spoiled brats, they repeatedly get bailed out by the government (some free market!) so that they can continue to take irresponsible risks, plunder the land, poison the seas, sicken whole communities, lay waste to entire regions, and pocket obscene profits. Michael Parenti

"Capitalism is based on production for profit, not need. It's also based on a requirement of constant growth for profit. That's self-destructive - quite apart from things like the steady process of monopolization, forming more and more oligopolies, as well as overproduction and the decline of the rate of profit. These are long-term tendencies that can be delayed, but they're inherent to capitalism." Power Systems: Noam Chomsky pg170

"Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone." - John Maynard Keynes, British economist.

We need to understand, from its inception, and despite all of the benefits it has produced, capitalism always has been predicated upon the principles of concentrating the maximum possible wealth in the fewest number of hands while reducing the maximum number of people to abject starvation. (from a comment at RSN)

One might even argue that capitalism often resolves systemic economic crises through war. After all, a war economy with militarisation, mobilisation, full employment and jingoism can be viewed as the ultimate solution to economic woes and social unrest. The transition of Western democracy to oligarchy and the descent into soft fascism is under way. Citizens will need to participate actively, rather than as passive consumers, to demand an end to this cycle of violence from governments and to defend the assault on democratic processes. World war 3 is coming...

Yes. Good government could keep it in boundaries, control pollution, provide social support, progressive taxes so everyone has the basics, shape long-term policy for climate, guarantee human rights are always priority. Make sure media tells the truth.https://t.co/CWnGL0Y3K4 https://t.co/Z7hz2Cm6l0
— Robert Vogel 🌊🌊🌊 #FBR #BLM (@robert_vogel) December 24, 2021

How a City Fought Runaway Capitalism and Won (11/15/2019)

Marc Benioff: We Need a New Capitalism (10/14/2019)

Why Wall Street Loves Strongmen (9/27/2019)

How a failing capitalist system is allowing Amazon to cripple America (2/18/2019)

Elizabeth Warren unveils bold new plan to reshape American capitalism (8/15/2018)

Democracy Against Capitalism: Class (8/15/2018)

What Happened to the Moral Center of American Capitalism? (9/5/2015)

In Fiery Speeches, the Pope excoriates capitalism (7/11/2015)

To Move Beyond Boom and Bust, We Need a New Theory of Capitalism (3/23/2015)

Cause of Climate Crisis: Capitalism is Stupid (9/24/2014)

In Defense of Capitalism: Joe Stiglitz (8/25/2014)

Can Civilization Survive Capitalism ? (3/13/2013)

The Endgame of Capitalism (2/3/2013)

The Myth of Capitalism (video) Michael Parenti

Capitalism Destroys Civilization

Allow this homeless man to quite brilliantly tell you about an alternative to capitalism. pic.twitter.com/nbqg8BsPsk
— Rachael Swindon (@Rachael_Swindon) July 27, 2020

Capitalism on Trial (video)

Markets and Morals (5/30/2012)

Capitalism has failed. 5 Bold Ways to build a new world (5/16/2012)

Wall Street's Latest Shameless Ploy To Fleece You (12/10/2011)

Capitalism's New Era (8/28/2011)

Although Republicans (and some academic economists) would have you believe otherwise, Capitalism has its problems. It is corrosive to democracy, the social well-being, the commons, and the planet.

As the environment deteriorates, as it seems certain to do given exponential population growth, climate change, pollution, species extinction, urban sprawl, burning forests, melting glaciers, disappearing icecaps, etc. there will likely be resource wars, water shortages, and increasing food shortages. There will be mass migration, armed and violent social unrest.

Although, for now, there may now be sufficient food and resources to provide the world population a decent standard of living, capitalism does not distribute it fairly. Poverty is persistent even when there are surpluses.

The market, since it is not particularly rational, is not an appropriate tool for making decisions. It is unstable, unfair, unsustainable, and amoral. It is an enemy of democracy and of good government.

The overarching goal of any economy should be to serve the people. Not, as we now have, a powerful elite. For anyone paying attention, there is evidence of widespread corruption.

It is unstable. There are booms and busts that are disruptive and largely caused by wild speculation, high leverage, lapses in regulation, and irrational exuberance. Market crashes are brought on when there is extreme wealth inequality. What we learned in the 1930's was repealed by short-sighted politicians. The graduated income tax is a necessary stabilizer as is a strong social safety net. After the most recent bank bailouts, no one should doubt the need for sensible regulation. (Republicans, with considerable cash from the financial sector, fight even the modest regulations that have been proposed.)

It is unfair. Wealth tends to accumulate into small groups who then use it to further game the system and acquire still more. Wide wealth disparities are always accompanied by pathological social problems. When much of the workforce is unused and resources are idle, when we need to renew our infrastructure, then it is the system that needs restructuring.

Corporations have a clear record of being bad citizens, yet our government is beholden to them. This has not only produced a media-election complex, a military industrial complex intent on building an empire, it has been a strong force for fascism. (Fascism is defined as the control of government by corporations. We have that. )

Corporations can produce most of what we need, but they only employ a small fraction of the people. There is always an unlimited amount of work that needs to be done, but corporations can do a lot with just a few people. There is inexorable consolidation within every industry, so that market choices become limited, work force is reduced, Fewer workers accompanied by declining wages result in a weak domestic market. Increasingly, advanced technology can replace workers. So can third-world sweat shops or prison labor.

There is even an increase in unpaid work. Media used to pay for talent, but more often 'reality' shows rely on volunteers. Interns are expected to work for a while before getting an actual paid job. Often graduating college students may no longer find a job that will pay off their debt.

Because the corporate mandate is only to produce profits, there is a persistent downward pressure on wages. The lowest wages are prevailing in developing countries, so corporations, who have no particular loyalty or patriotism, migrate to the lowest wage, unregulated, environmental unprotected, countries leaving a landscape of abandoned factories and large numbers of unemployed who destabilize politics. Where jobs can not be easily exported, there is an aggressive policy of union busting. Corporate media (almost ALL US media) sees all of this in a positive light. Banks get bailed out and corporate America is well rewarded. Our government is usually well paid to ignore the problems of the vast majority of people.

Republican policy, ignored deteriorating infrastructure, cut higher education while driving students into unescapable debt, shreded the social safety net, will drive most people in the US into debt servitude. Not coincidentally, the US is regressing to third world condition.

The market does not take care of the commons. Maintaining infrastructure, social programs like healthcare, child care, or eldercare are not profitable (except they can be made extremely expensive for those who need them.) It is clearly not interested in saving the planet.

The best economy is a mixed one, where markets are transparent and well regulated. We could learn a lot from techniques developed in Scandinavian countries.

As concentration of wealth almost inexorably proceeds, the late stage of Capitalism is Fascism. The US now appears to have a lot in common with 1933 Germany.