I am, however, increasingly concerned with the undemocratic
system that has invaded government and accessed its structures as tools for
spreading its own propaganda and its own ‘principles’ and modes of operation. I believe the more important target for
grievance, sometimes our condemnation, and certainly for continuous oversight
is the private sector of industrial, for-profit services and financial
speculation– CAPITALISM writ large!
In effect, because of its purpose, mission and aims,
industrialization/capitalism is always attempting to better its chances of
success and profit by ever more intrusive and nefarious means. Capitalism is not entirely known for its ethical
behaviors, but for its manipulation of money, of property, of profit, of its
labor force and of any entity that attempts to control its over-reach. Industrialism/capitalism is not built on the
same value structure that enervates democracy. A very brief and generalized comparison of how
much the systems differ in beliefs and values (ethical considerations), may
serve to focus our attention.
CAPITALISM/ DEMOCRACY
PROFIT is the overriding concern; success is strong second/ Life,
liberty and welfare or hap- piness of all are overriding con- cerns
Uses & manipulates all aspects of operations for profit/ Follows
constitutionally-based legislative process to make laws that protect and defend
the People and the nation; uses system of checks and balances
Treats Labor as expendable commodity; parts of profit
equation/ Encourages and
rewards people who initiate, create and produce; provides education,
opportunities, incentives for well-being of all
Sees consumers as targets of manipulation, having few
rights/ Treats people
as sovereign;
possessing equal rights under law
Mission: to acquire money, property and status / Mission: to seek liberty and justice for all
Motive: enhancement of wealth of company and stockholders/ Motive: enhancement of the people’s rights, dignity, equality, opportunities and welfare
Seeks freedom from restrictions of business practices/ Empathizes a
balance between liberty and responsibility; regulates society to enhance not deny well-being and happiness
Is organized and structured to enhance profits/ Organized
to enhance life, liberty and pursuit of happiness or well- being
Demands company loyalty/ Encourages
love of country; shown by taking mutual responsibility for maintaining ideals and welfare of all
Places material success and acquisitions above Law/ Places
the Law above the desires and status of individuals; reforms laws that
discriminate against or de-value the rights and liberties of any cohort
Believes people are endowed with privileges based on status/ Believes people are endowed
by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among them life, liberty and
pursuit of happiness.
Believes that government oversight and regulation is
anathema/ Believes
oversight &enforcement of just laws are necessary to equitable provision of opportunities,
rights, freedoms, justice
Asserts that government is society’s main ‘problem’/ Asserts
that government of, by and for the People is the basis of a stable,
responsible, just, dynamic and productive society
There was a time, in its early stages, when
industrialism/capitalism was built on an entirely different set of values –
Protestant Christian values primarily.
Attempting to reclaim these ethical foundations, author Max Weber “drew
a sharp line between capitalism and greed.”
Capitalism was based not on a desire to get rich, but on
self-discipline, methodical effort, responsible stewardship, sober devotion to
a calling and to a rational organization of life.
As one author (identified
below) commented: “Weber’s ethical vindication of capitalism now seems to apply
to an altogether different world.” And
then adds, as an example: “Finance is an ‘industry’ where innovation is hard to
distinguish from rule-bending or rule-breaking; where the pay-offs from
semi-legal and illegal activities are particularly high; where the gradient in
expertise and pay between firms and regulatory authorities is extreme; where
revolving doors between the two offer unending possibilities for subtle and
not-so-subtle corruption; where the largest firms are not just too big to fail,
but also too big to jail, given their importance for national economic policy
and tax revenue; and where the borderline between private companies and the
state is more blurred than anywhere else, as indicated by the 2008 bailout or
by the number of former and future employees of financial firms in the American
government.” We have allowed the
two realms to mesh to the extent that business interests now exercise major
control over our ideals, our loyalties, our freedoms, our activities, our
thinking, our habits, our institutions and our form of government.
What is
surprising and disturbing is that we are not taking a substantial amount of
time to discern and act upon this takeover. We tend to overlook the contradictions and
anti-democratic values inherent in capitalism, and are prone to a dangerously
naïve point of view: that privatizing government functions is equivalent to a
solution for operating smoothly and efficiently, and the ultimate answer for
bettering our lives and liberties. The
years 1929 and 2008 stand as beacons of truth and reality in that foggy world
of thought. The more government relinquishes regulatory control
of business enterprises, and allows those entities to control government, the
worse off we are as a nation, thrown right back into the swamp of greed,
short-cuts to profits, inadequate and unsafe products, and lack of inner
controls to regulate bad practices like polluting our environment, insider
trading, selling of unprotected and under-valued stocks, bonds and financial
products. Every time we listen to the
snake-oil salesmen who promote “deregulation” we experience damage to our
society and to our Republic.
Checks and
balances are at the core of our democratic system and yet we abandon that
concept every time we buy into “privatization,” “deregulation,” and “government
needs to be run like a business.” What’s
wrong with businessmen taking over government is epitomized by the accession of
Donald Trump to the highest office in our nation. His lack of knowledge of history and of governmental
functioning; his authoritarian values, actions and behaviors are destructive of
democracy and we will find it out too late if we allow this maniac to continue
in office for a full term. He, like many
of his ilk from the business world (many of whom have used government money for personal comfort or aggrandizement), are not interested in the values of our
democracy; they are interested in making money. And, so far, the Donald has
allegedly made millions from his candidacy and from his machinations in
office. This businessman is robbing our
wallets and our purses. Trump Towers and Mar-a-Lago alone are cleaning up on
hosting foreign dignitaries and special meetings and conferences, and the
Russian connection may someday be known for what I believe it to be – an
economic windfall for Trump Enterprises.
But, that’s enough about Donald Trump -- the plutocratic oligarch who
continues to define the moral bankruptcy of Capitalism.
Let us bring
in someone who knows a whole lot more about this subject than I do. “How Will Capitalism End?” is the
name of a book of essays by Wolfgang Streeck.
Streeck is the Director of the Max Planck Institute for Social Research
in Cologne, Professor of Sociology at the University there, and an Honorary
Fellow of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics. In one review from the Times Higher Education,
there is a comment that Streeck’s essays “will be at the center of social
research for years to come.” The book
claims that after years of ill health, capitalism is now in critical
condition. Growth has given way to
stagnation, inequality is leading to instability, and confidence in the money
economy is evaporating. According to one
review, “the marriage between democracy and capitalism, ill-suited partners
brought together in the shadow of World War II, is coming to an end. Ours has become a world defined by declining
growth, oligarchic rule, a shrinking public sphere, institutional corruption,
and international anarchy” and he senses there is no political entity capable
of rolling back the effects of this situation.
In his opening chapter, Streeck
identifies five areas of “disorder” that he says herald the demise of
capitalism. Let us explore these from
the viewpoint of values and how they do not, and have not, worked well for democratic
society.
Disorder
#1: Stagnation
Although the author cites
several reasons for decline and stagnation, it is not my purpose to delve into
economic theory nor economic statistical analysis in any substantive way. My purpose today is to compare and contrast
the values exhibited by capitalism and democracy.
Streeck says that one of the
major factors in the decline and stagnation of capitalism as a system is in the
realm of ethics. He cites de-regulation
– removal of restrictions on corporate behavior – the circumventing of whatever
rules were left, the ever-increasing inequality associated with the
disproportionate growth - especially in
the banking sector- and the consumptive excesses of rich capitalist societies
as contributing factors in the struggle to find more profit amid fewer new
markets.
He goes even further to suggest
that natural resources are running low because of the excess demand of
industries on those resources.
Inevitably, he brings up the matter of the “unavoidable degradation of
the biosphere” as a serious breach of ethical consideration involving the
“collective good.” In other words,
competitive production and consumption, plus the capitalist principle of
infinite expansion, are colliding headlong with the finite supply of natural resources. “No one seriously denies that the energy
consumption patterns of rich capitalist societies cannot be extended to the
rest of the world without destroying essential preconditions of human life”
(perhaps he hasn’t met the deniers of the Trump administration, or those in the
Congress!).
Streeck does not fail to include
the critical denuding of the labor movement in his list of factors. He avers that the making of labor into a
commodity of industry has undone prospects for labor reforms and made employment
itself much more precarious for a growing share of the population. Hours given by families to employers have
increased while wages have lagged behind productivity advances, most
dramatically in the U.S., he indicates.
Destruction of trade unions “ha(s) caused residual unemployment of 7 to
8 per cent as the new normal. Moreover,
global mobility enables employers to replace unwilling local workers with
willing…ones” at minimal cost in wages.
“Capitalism without opposition is left to its own devices, which do
not include self-restraint. The
capitalist pursuit of profit is open-ended, and cannot be otherwise.” His description of the imminent future of the
stagnant economy that looms ahead is somewhat forbidding, as he indicates that
the struggle for survival will “become more intense.” Rather than restoring protective limits
rendered obsolete by globalization, “ever new ways will be sought to exploit
nature, extend and intensify working time, and encourage what the jargon calls
‘creative finance’, in a desperate effort to keep profits up and capital
accumulation going.” Victimization, not
only of Labor, but of many ordinary citizens is a profound probability.
Disorder #2:
Plutocrats and Plunder
“There is no indication that the long-term trend towards greater
economic inequality will be broken any time soon, or indeed ever. Redistribution to the top thus becomes
oligarchic: rather than serving a collective interest in economic progress, it
turns into extraction of resources from increasingly impoverished, declining
societies... The bond which tied the profits of the rich to the poor is
severed, cutting the fate of the economic elites loose from that of the
masses.”
This is a description of what
has been happening for at least the last 30 years (since Ronald Reagan) and
probably much longer to the extent that the rich have always been involved in
restraining the poor fearing the takeover of their property and riches by an
unruly mob of the unwashed and uneducated.
In these times, the rich have not only reduced the redistribution of
their wealth through government deregulation and budget-cutting, they have
embarked upon the nefarious enterprise of stealing (extracting) money from the
(many) taxes paid by the middle class and working poor, increasing
privatization of government functions through government contracts and lowering
corporate and individual tax rates, but also by stashing their cash in
off-shore bank accounts free from tax collection. Now too, Streech points out, there are
growing indications that because of the transnational character of fortunes,
the super-rich are beginning to exit from their home countries to live in more
(economically) hospitable environs.
I would caution that the two
most potent upcoming means of Plutocratic plundering will be contained in items
that are often too boring and daunting for the public’s taste or
attention. One is the 2018 Federal
Budget which Trump has already revealed, but which Congress will surely amend
(not necessarily in the best way).
Second, is the ‘reform’ of the Tax Code, which Mr. Trump may (or may
not) get to before the summer recess. Both
items continue to be prime targets for private sector manipulation, and many of
the provisions contained therein are the results of just such continued
manipulation by the private sector Plutocrats.
Disorder
#3: Underfunding and Privatization
“Foremost among the causes of
this shift (from the tax state to the debt state to the austerity state) were
the new opportunities offered by global capital markets since the 1980’s for tax
flight, tax evasion, tax-regime shopping and the extortion of tax cuts from
governments by corporations and earners of high incomes. Attempts to close public deficits relied
almost exclusively on cuts in government spending.... As income gains accrued increasingly to the top
1 per cent, the public domain of capitalist economies shrank, starved in favor
of internationally mobile oligarchic wealth.”
The mantra of lowering spending
on government programs for the middle class and those living in poverty to
“balance the budget” and to “lower the deficit,” has escalated in the 2018
Trump budget to an austerity level. 19
departments and 61 programs are being cut dramatically, and many will simply be
eliminated. At the same time, the rich
corporations involved in defense and munitions will reap extreme profits under
the many new contracts made necessary by the $54 billion dollar increase in the
Defense budget. Privatization is being carried out “regardless of the contribution (that) public investment in productivity and social cohesion might have made to economic growth and social equity.” Streech warns us that this austerity for the poor and enhancement of the oligarchs is another indication that “the economy of the oligarchs has been decoupled from that of ordinary people, as the rich no longer expect to pay a price for maximizing their income at the expense of the non-rich, or for pursuing their interests at the expense of the economy as a whole.”
Once again, the ethical
dimension comes through the talk about economics. We are being told in no uncertain terms that
the rich are using government to separate themselves from any responsibility
for the less fortunate in our democratic society. There is no social contract left. There is no mutual responsibility for each
other. There is not one nation
indivisible with liberty and justice for all.
There is brokenness, there is division, there is segregation. There is
no longer a United States. What
there is constitutes two quite separate approaches to human endeavor and humane
behavior. The ethical foundations of
Judeo-Christian scripture and religion are cast aside. The basis of the Old Testament tithe for the
poor has been lost; the golden Rule has been tarnished; the Prodigal Son cannot
come home; the Good Samaritan turns his back on neighbors; and the role of the
Judeo-Christian God as “Protector of the Poor and the Innocent” has been
stripped of power.
But those scriptures, and those
religions, also have a warning for the oligarchs who wish to control the
universe: “to whom much is given, much will be required” and “Woe to those who
enact evil statutes, and to those who continually record unjust decisions, so
as to deprive the needy of justice and rob the poor of My people of their
rights"(Isa. 10:1-3) (see my Post of 12/24/2016 for much more)Disorder #4: Corruption
“Capitalism’s moral decline may have to do with its economic decline, the struggle for the last remaining profit opportunities becoming uglier by the day and turning into asset-stripping on a truly gigantic scale. However that may be, public perceptions of capitalism are now deeply cynical, the whole system commonly perceived as a world of dirty tricks for ensuring the further enrichment of the already rich. Nobody believes anymore in a moral revival of capitalism... it has more than ever become synonymous with corruption.”
It is at this point that some disagreement
must be launched at the author (the book was published 21 days after the
election of Trump and may not have been able to consider implications about the
electorate). Public perception of
capitalism is apparently not quite as astute as Streech makes out. The electorate that put Trump in office were
immune to all the disorder within capitalism, and within the complicated life
of this candidate. They first touted him
as a savvy businessman who would bring some order to what they conceived as
disorder. Instead he has brought
nothing but disorder and chaos. One of
his many failings is his constant mind-change on policy which provokes a disorder
of some magnitude amongst other countries.
Witness his recent bombing of a Syrian airbase from which Syrian planes
took off to chemically annihilate innocent civilians. This is in complete denial of his campaign
rhetoric that eschewed any more involvement in Syria or other countries of the
Middle East, except to annihilate ISIS.
In fact, as I have written
before, Trump-backers, disconnected from reality, excused whatever he said or
did in favor of a more authoritarian leadership style, most likely honed within
the confines and influence of his capitalistic Trump Enterprises. His 2018
budget is the epitome of anti-social contract and anti-care for the less
fortunate of this nation. His attitudes
toward nations and people are grounded, not in a Christian ethic of concern
given without expectation of reciprocity, but in a capitalistic mode of
competition, winning at all costs, and denigrating one’s rivals so that they
appear to have lost or to have capitulated to a superior power.
The followers of this
wrongly-principled man include a cohort of Labor unions and their members, who
obviously do not recognize, or perhaps do not understand, the enmity of
capitalism and this specific capitalist toward the Labor movement. Nor can they be aware of the imminent future
of growing unemployment as capitalism increasingly seeks to employ
technological means to replace humans at jobs that can be done by artificial
entities. These unions will have their
day of reckoning, as did the traffic controllers under Reagan, when they will
be thrown under the bus. The wind-up for
that throw has already begun in the Trump budget for 2018, and by his hiring
freeze imposed upon certain departments of the federal government.
Disorder
#5: International Anarchy
“Global capitalism needs a
centre to secure its periphery and provide it with a credible monetary
regime...when a centre was missing, and different powers aspired to take on the
role, (it was) a time of chaos, economically as well as politically.”
Streech is talking here about
the role that Great Britain played until the 1920s, and the United States
played from 1945 until the 1970s. The period in-between and the period after
the 70s are times of instability of which he speaks. “Stability in currencies, backed up by a
global banker of some integrity, is essential for trade and capital
accumulation. It is also essential for
regimes on the periphery to allow and condone extraction of raw materials.” And so, we come to the period at hand, about
which he states:
“Contemporary capitalism
increasingly suffers from global anarchy, as the United States is no longer
able to serve in its post-war role, and a multipolar world order is nowhere on
the horizon. While there are (still?) no
Great-Power clashes, the dollar’s function as international reserve currency is
contested – and cannot be otherwise, given the declining performance of the
American economy, its rising levels of public and private debt, and the recent
experience of several highly destructive financial crises. The search for an international
alternative... is getting nowhere.”
He does mention our military
might and isolationist trend as making the U.S. a reluctant leader in terms of
becoming involved outside our borders, but again misses the point that the new
“Leader of the Free World” is not reluctant to bomb another country’s
infrastructure if that is what he thinks is needed to make him look strong. We have regressed to “pre-emptive strikes” as
policy.We are in the realm of ethics once again, and we must discern the difference between capitalism and democracy. Is global leadership based on strength and violence or on humanitarian efforts to address the needs and concerns of other populations around the globe? In other words, as Streech suggests, are we the perpetrators “of sophisticated means of violence (special forces used for personal assassination; drones capable of killing almost anyone anywhere; supporters of torture and confinement in a worldwide system of internment camps; users of comprehensive surveillance mechanisms applied to potential opposition anywhere we choose) in order to inspire confidence in the United States as a ‘global enforcer’ of oligarchic property rights, and as a safe haven for oligarchic families and their treasure?”
Or, are we a nation dedicated to
the advancement of human rights and human dignity, called to be “the Leader of
the Free World” by supporting collaborative efforts through the UN to bring
relief to countries suffering from disease, lack of resources like foods and
grains, devastating natural disasters, and viral epidemics? (will we stop paying anything to the UN and
NATO as has been suggested?). Are we a
nation dedicated to world order based on peace and justice and non-violence
(except in extreme cases where it is the last resort)? Are we a nation called to be wise and prudent
in our dealings with other nations by constitutionally mandating our Senate to
‘advise and consent’ to treaties, and by giving Congress the responsibility of declaring
War? It is eminently questionable that
our President should have the assumed power of declaring any police action,
skirmish or military offensive without the advice and counsel of this
deliberative body.
Except in terms of a defensive response to an attack, it is,
in my opinion, a travesty of separation of powers to allow a dictatorial
premise to undo what the Founders gravely instituted for just this reason: the President is not a King or dictator; he
most assuredly should consult, and take with utmost seriousness the advice he
receives from the separate but equal legislative
body— the Congress -- before taking any offensive warlike action against any
nation or movement, and should, in most cases seek a declaration of war when
this nation’s security is at risk. It is
a question of political process, but also a question of shared leadership and
of ethical behavior.
Concepts like “Leader of the
Free World” or “making America great” or “America First” have moral implications,
but are not ethical concepts. Capitalism
per se has eschewed its original moral base – it is an amoral system built upon
secular principles and concepts that often border on the immoral and the
illegal.
In contrast, Democracy has a
basis in moral principles in almost every sphere of policy and operation,
because democracy is built upon an ethical/moral base of people’s welfare and
of human rights that help to ensure well-being.
However, it is abundantly clear that those democratic principles can
also be disordered and corrupted by the acceptance of dubious principles from
other areas of life, such as economics and capitalism. Thus, the marriage of capitalistic and democratic
principles is like a flawed road full of potholes and dangerous
intersections. But the acceptance by
democracy of the amoral and immoral outcomes spawned by capitalism is a
disorder and corruption that can no longer be tolerated (just as capitalism finds
the “intervention” of political regulations to be intolerable). It is past time to separate the two systems
by removing the influence of capitalist currency and over-arching access from
the halls of legislators and regulators, from the committee hearings and
special meetings; from the parties and ‘conferences’ sponsored by capitalists
seeking favors, delays, subsidies and inside information. Yes, equal rights of access must still apply,
but unequal amenities and unethical practices along with political control must
be stifled and in most cases eliminated.
The disordering and corruption
of our democratic system by the Donald Trump’s (Koch’s and Abelson’s) of this
world must stop. The conflicts of interest of this office-holder – and his
whole nepotistic and Wall Street-based operation – must end. Impeachment must be considered -- let’s not
deny it. His very presence in the oval
office is an affront to our system of governance, to our democratic values and
our moral foundation. In 85 days, he has
fashioned for himself the makings of ‘high crimes and misdemeanors!” – as were
his Russian-enabled election, his monetary ties to Russian oligarchs, his
appointments of “administrative de-constructors” and the use of his position to
make money through his facilities like Trump Towers and Mar-a-Lago Resort. The latest foray into Syria is also, in my
estimation, a violation of the right of Congress to declare War unless there is
an imminent threat to our nation (there wasn’t). Moreover, his lack of complete divestiture
means that he can – and undoubtedly does -- use his position to make money on
stocks he or his family own in companies like munition-makers. It has been reported that Trump owns stock in
Raytheon, the maker of the missiles that now must be replaced (at $60 million
total!) because of his decision to rain them down on that airfield in
Syria!
Democratic values (of, by and
for the People) and Capitalism’s principles (do what it takes to build profit)
do not mix. They are incompatible and we
must stop trying to pretend otherwise!
Postscript: I do recognize that this comes across as a
general indictment of all business and capitalistic enterprise. Not so. There are many incidences when
consultation and collaborative actions with business leaders and
representatives is inescapable and totally necessary, but control over the
process is not theirs to possess! This Post is, rather, an explanation and
illustration of certain concepts and beliefs held as inviolable by corporations,
financial entities and Big Business that are in conflict with the values of
democracy. Whether small business
persons or all business enterprises accept and act upon those ethically
questionable beliefs is not for me to decide; their words and actions reveal
their commitments. My point is that our
government can no longer support the promulgation, acceptance and practice of
their principles, in lieu of constitutional principles, as the basis of
governance. We must expunge their anti-democratic
principles from our political and governmental structures, policies, behaviors,
laws, and from all activities that affect the People, especially our elections,
our legislation, and judicial decision-making.
This is not about placing blame; it is about what we are called to be, and
about the necessity of continual renewal and reform of the processes of our representative
democracy in accord with our constitutional principles and values.
