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CapitalismUpdated 21 September 2003 Capitalism, by definition [1], is: “1) an economic system where production and distribution of goods depends on invested private capital and profit making, 2) the possession of wealth or capital, and 3) the dominance of private owners of capital and production for profit.” This does not imply that “pure” capitalism requires a heavy dependence upon government to make rules beneficial to the owners, but it does suggest that anyone with enough wealth or capital -- enough to invest, for example -- is a capitalist. Just enjoying the benefits of capitalism can tend to make one a capitalist. Capitalism has produced in the United States of America an extraordinary life style. This is not to say, a high quality of life, but rather an extra-ordinary style. And one of relatively recent vintage. Prior to World War II, the massive materialism of multiple entertainment centers in the home, a variety of public and private means of transportation (almost unlimited mobility for the common man), housing filled with convenience and appliances for most every chore, entertainment at every corner, luxurious dining-out facilities, art and nik-naks of every imaginable style and use, and the availability of a huge variety of quality and tasty foods that would make royalty of a hundred years ago jealous... These were simply not available to the average person, seventy years ago. World War II, however, required Capitalism to reach incredible levels of productivity. In times of war, this was a “good thing”. Curiously, the problem began after the war when the new levels of productivity had no apparent market. The Military-Industrial Complex was no longer requiring a massive amount of consumables -- i.e. bombs, jeeps, tanks, ships, and all manner of things which could be rapidly blown into oblivion -- always ensuring a demand. At the time, this was actually considered to be a real problem. The “solution” was materialism. It was necessary to greatly increase consumerism in order for the new capitalists, with their new found productivity (and profits) to have new demands, i.e. consumption on a massive scale. Economics is about supply and demand, and when the potential for supply is enormously more than the demand, then profits are very low. But when demand can be increased to exponential levels, so can profits. Television was part of the solution. By brainwashing Americans into thinking they really needed this or that -- instead of merely wanting it -- consumer demand took off, and most anyone who began a business in the nineteen fifties could make enormous profits. This quickly led to the problem, however, whereby Americans became somewhat saturated with materialism. Many have even committed the heresy of doing well with a whole lot less. Stuff was no longer being consumed. Reduced consumption, in turn, meant reduced profits for producers. Corporations, the bastion of Capitalism, didn’t care for that! The flip side of consumption is resource. Producers and manufacturers are merely the link between resources and consumables. A massive increase in consumption implies a hefty increase in the use of resources. In effect, rampant Capitalism was using up the resources. The “new solution” to these two problems of lethargic, saturated Americans and finding the raw material to produce the consumables, laid in foreign lands. I.e. create markets overseas, and simultaneously, use their resources. This is not necessarily a direct link, in that you can use one country’s resources (at minimal cost) and sell to other countries who have more money than resources, and much more money than means of production. The key was that corporations, in order to maintain a healthy flow of profits, had to find new markets and new sources of raw materials! And if profitability could be further increased by using new sources of cheap labor, so much the better. Fortunately for the corporations (and unfortunately for most everyone else), corporations have a valuable ally, friend, or co-conspirator in the US Government, and many of its allies in the more developed countries of the world (primarily Europe and Japan). The end result has been that American Foreign Policy is dictated by Corporate Rule, in order to increase profits for domestic and Transnational Corporations. This dictation is via Corporate Politics and the defacto collusion of elected and/or appointed government officials. CEOs and Independent Accounting Firms operating independently of and to the detriment of even the shareholders add to the misery. Even with something as outrageous as the Enron scandal, the CEO has yet to be charged with a crime by the government - his relationship with the administration being a prime consideration. In the scandal yet to be aired by the mainstream Media (the latter being just another group of corporations), Vice-President Dick Cheney is funneling hundreds of billions of dollars to his (former?) employer, Halliburton, and even assists by helping create a war in Iraq, which can lead to more business for the company to rebuild what other contractors have destroyed with their new high tech, very expensive weapons. With these tools -- and the assistance of high ranking government employees -- the Corporate State is alive and well on Earth. (3/11/09) If one really needs Just as in the problems involving justice, Common Law, the US Bankruptcy, and most aspects of our day-to-day lives, our alternatives may be limited to Restorative Justice, Sovereignty
Success Work Ethic Corporate State Corporate Rule Forward to: CEOs The Rule of 20-50 Independent Accounting Firms American Foreign Policy Globalism, Neo-Tribalism and False Reality New: Freedom of Religion Holy War The Rules of Holy War Racism and Culturalism Multiculturalism Perils of Immigration Free Speech The (9) Supremes The Halls of SCOTUS
_______________________ References: [1] Reader’s Digest, Complete Wordfinder, Oxford University Press, 1996. |
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