Why is capitalism failing us?
Bob Morris @ Jun 15th 2008 07:12 - Category: Socialism
Doug Page at Dissident Voice asks this in a thoughtful essay detailing the flaws of capitalism. The elite make the money, the workers get shafted, and overproduction leads to economic downturns. Standard Marxist theory, really, even if Page doesn’t appear to be Marxist. He ends by proposing that the only way to fight the State is to, among other things, “stop our consumption of the products of the elite” and “grow our own food and meet our own needs.”
Um, Page seems well-meaning and genuinely searching for answers, but unless you want to go live in a yurt in the wilderness, you will need to purchase the products of capitalism. It is folly to pretend otherwise.
A hardcore Marxist would say the State needs to own the means of production, with the workers running things. Then, with foresighted planning, everything will run smoothly and there will be no overproduction, no boom-bust economy, no shafted workers. This sounds good in theory too, but tell me, why would a group of workers necessarily be any more competent in running a factory than a capitalist? Or any less less susceptible to corruption and the emergence of a new ruling class?
Another problem with Marxist theory is that it seemingly always talks about factories. The workers will run the factories. Well, in Marx’s time, all they had was factories. But times have changed. Microsoft and Google are not factories, they can move production anywhere quite easily and - I’m just guessing here now - most of their workers probably don’t feel particularly exploited. Especially not the early ones who are multi-millionaires thanks to their stock options. So tell me, who has Bill Gates exploited?
Marxist theory has some valuable thoughts, but it needs to be updated and brought into the 21st century else it will be seen by most, especially in the US, as a dusty relic.
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DJ on 15 Jun 2008 at 8:02 am #
Ask not why capitalism has failed us, but rather why have we failed capitalism. Adam Smith recognized the role of a strong central government to (1) regulate markets where necessary, (2) provide progressive taxation so that wealth does not accumulate excessively at the top, and (3) provide those essentials like education and infrastructiure (and these days one might add health insurance) that the market cannot effectively provide. Smith also recognized the need for a strong moral principle underlying the capitalist system. He would be appalled at the current equating of “self-interest” with “greed.”
Our economic system today little resembles capitalism. We have rebelled against taxation, deregulated markets, and elected leaders that failed to provide the essentials a government should. As business has globalized, we have rebelled against giving up national sovereignty, allowing the ultra-wealthy to evade control by any government. But above all, we have forgotten that self-interest means at a minimum that our neighbor ought not to be so poor that he/she needs to steal from us in order to survive.
Capitalism has its failings–but it also has the advantage of harnessing (rather than denying) humankind’s desire to excel. But if we are to return to a capitalist system, we would need two major changes: (1) a government larger than the economy; in other words, either global government or a return to national/local economies– and only the former would have the ability to implement progressive taxation that would move wealth from the filthy rich (us) to the poverty-stricken majority, and (2) a mass awakening of consciousness that the wellbeing of others affects our own wellbeing.
Personally, I don’t see either condition happening in my lifetime. Welcome to the Age of Anarchy.
Bob Morris on 17 Jun 2008 at 10:49 am #
An emerging problem with both capitalism and socialism is that they need a strong central government to function efficiently and fairly, but in the coming 4gw world, what we’re getting is the hollowing out of governments instead.