Capitalism is Amoral
Reformists on the other hand still hold on to the idea that the system can be improved by changing the rules but leaving capitalism in place. That however is a delusion as capitalism by its very structure and implementation is built to always dilute, subvert or destroy the public concern for the commons when it interferes with profit.
It is capitalism's nature just as the old story of the fox and the scorpion. The scorpion asks the fox to carry it across the river. The fox says no you will sting me. The scorpion says that is ridiculous we would both drown. The fox thinks about it and says ok. Halfway across the stream the scorpion stings the fox and they both start to sink, the fox crying why did you do that, now we will both drown. The scorpion answers it is my nature, you knew I was a scorpion. In America we always try to continue the fallacy that we can have democracy and unbridled capitalism. The truth is you can't because the capitalist economic system will always manipulate, corrupt, distort and in the end kill democracy.
There is nothing in the capitalist system that supports democracy. CEOs are hired to squeeze the most profit from the investment, no matter what the cost. They are hired to convince the public to buy products that many times are harmful to their health, to fund propaganda to manipulate public opinion, to extract the most from workers at the least cost and to hire lobbyists to insure favorable treatment over consumers in government policy.
They have fiduciary duty to ignore morals, fairness, safety, worker needs or anything else that interferes with profit. It is a system where the most sociopathic individuals are elevated to leadership. If you don't care if your decisions hurt or kill people, steal their property, exploit their labor, you're on track to become a corporate CEO. If you have any moral qualms you will soon be replaced by one who doesn't.
It is the kind of system that allows top management to calculate how many people will burn up in their cars because of a defective gas tank and figure it is cheaper to pay for a few deaths than fix the problem. It is the mentality that pushes cigarettes, high fructose corn syrup, alcohol (opposes marijuana which is accessible to all) and SUVs. It finds no problem with funding anti-climate change propaganda, clean coal, and sells sexy outfits for eight year olds.
Alternative Collectivism
The alternative political beliefs of socialism, communism and anarchism (libertarians too) recognize you can't separate politics from economics and that morality and the common good must be part of the equation. After all politics is about where the money goes and who gets it.
One of the problems for the corporate press is the OWS people are operating outside of the defined acceptable model of top down management preferred by corporations. Not only are they acting responsibly as a group, the are demonstrating their beliefs in cooperative collectivism. They are reminding the rest of us if what the direct consensus style democracy, which is the core of socialism, communism and anarchism thought, looks like. That's something that capitalists never want the public to know.
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
4
4
3
