Secrets and Hope in Our Mad World

Early in 2017 I read George Marshall’s book ‘Don’t Even Think About It: Why We are Wired Not to Think About Climate Change’ and I decided I would think about it. And I would read about it. Then I would write about it.

I write as a 'non-expert' and I'm hoping that your comments will help me to see whether the insights I've

gained make sense, whether the conclusions stack up and whether it's realistic for me to start feeling

hopeful about the future .

November 17th - What Does Capitalism Need to Keep Going?

Keeping my mind on so-called neo-liberal or free-market capitalism (apparently there are other sorts) I've found that to survive capitalism needs ...
Capital to invest and avenues through which it can be invested to make a profit.  I'll get into deep water if I try to sort out who owns this capital but I've come to realise that sometimes it is an individual (like the Russian oligarchs who made massive fortunes when they 'stole' state assets) but more often we are talking about companies (many of them global and incorporating many different 'brands'), pension funds and hedge funds (don't ask me!)
Customers - who must be encouraged to buy,buy,buy 
Infrastructure  - roads, school, health services etc to support the customer base
Technology - sufficient to support the company's operations
Workers - who are prepared to work for sufficiently low wages so excess profit can be made to pay to investors
Governments - which will ensure that regulation does not impede the operation of companies
Growth and capital flow - I'm wondering why capitalism needs continued growth and David Harvey (The Enigma of Capital) has come to my rescue.  To the question 'Why do capitalists reinvest in expansion rather than consume their profits in pleasure?' he says  
1) If I do not reinvest and a rival does then I'm likely to be driven out of business
2)  Money is a form of social power - 'The importance of the limitless nature of money power cannot be overstressed'
Now I've got my head round what capital needs in order to sustains itself, I'll try to find out to what lengths capitalists will go in order to get their needs met.

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8 comments:

  1. ajohnstone17 November 2013 at 05:31

    "...our problems stem from the need for growth which is central to unregulated free market capitalism" The blog description begs the question is any capitalism good? Can we pick and choose bits and pieces within the capitalism as good parts and jettison those things we do not like?

    On the anniversary o Robert Owen's death we should remind ourselves of his forlorn hope.

    For those who think their is a humane version of capitalism i refer you to Mondragon, often held up as a model of how things should be by Richard Wolf and others.

    http://www.economist.com/news/business/21589469-collapse-spains-fagor-tests-worlds-largest-group-co-operatives-trouble-workers

    One of the group’s constituent co-ops—has found its limit. Fagor has lost money for five years and has run up debts of €850m ($1.2 billion). Its sales have fallen sharply because of Spain’s property bust and low-cost competition from Asia. Even pay cuts of over 20% have not been enough to turn it around. Its factories all ceased production three weeks ago...In the past, losses in one part of the group have been covered by the others, but this time Fagor’s pleas for a €170m lifeline were rejected, even though the Spanish and Basque governments were ready to step in as part of the rescue. Eroski, another co-operative in the Mondragon group and one of Spain’s largest retailers, is also struggling in the face of stiff competition, and it and two other co-ops vetoed Fagor’s plan. What was that? Co-operation "All for one, One for...." Oh, forget it

    With capitalism it is a matter of all or nothing, no amount of tinkering will succeed. No need for adjectives and hyphens - CAPITALISM has to go.

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    1. Finding & Harnessing Hope18 November 2013 at 02:24

      Thanks for that. Lots of people are saying 'capitalism is dead and must go' but I'm still struggling with the question of what could replace it and how do we get there? Have been reading about transition towns, community allotments, local currency and the rest and have read a bit about how academics see a way forward (Tim Jackson's Prosperity Without Growth was good read) but I can't find a 'road map' to a better future. Is there one?

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  2. Anonymous18 November 2013 at 00:30

    Posted by shyaku on November 18, 2013, 2:09 am

    "Free market", in classical definition, simply describes how prices are set, namely by the manipulation of supply & demand as opposed to Government decree.

    But in a world where governments set prices by manipulating supply & demand (particularly in the bond and currency markets), and supra-national private capital decrees them (via commodity transfer pricing for example), you are not supposed to notice that the term has no inherent meaning.

    In terms of output, a "market economy" is supposed to be the antithesis of a "planned economy", but here again the terms fail, because they take no account of ownership: "Market economics" has become a propaganda term for private ownership. In a socialist market (or market socialist) economy, land and means-of-production can be commonly-owned, yet operated according to the principles of supply and demand. But you will get a tear gas cannister fired at your head at close range by advocating this form of free-market economics more readily than by advocating soviet-style planning. If you don't believe me do the experiment

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    1. Finding & Harnessing Hope18 November 2013 at 00:38

      Thanks for that shyaku. My understanding of economics is limited although I did plough through John Lanchester's 'Whoops' which helped. I guess 'free market' has become even more of an inappropriate term in the UK in recent years with the government bailing out banks and introducing a 'Help to Buy' scheme for first-time home buyers. It seems that when the market doesn't work the government uses public money to prop it up.

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  3. pjenner18 November 2013 at 14:21

    As I said on the MediaLens site, one answer to your question is 'several more planets.' Real existing capitalism has an insatiable appetite for turning nature - including humans - into commodities. It can only be stopped by coming up against the ecological limits of this planet. This is beginning to happen now. More and more people cannot continue to consume more and more indefinitely. Resources become depleted. Pollution - including climate change, increases. We are between the devil and a hard place. If the peak oilers are right, the lack of oil and other fossil fuels will see the decline of our civilisation. If they are wrong, climate change will lead to a similar result.

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  4. ajohnstone18 November 2013 at 17:46

    A few links to add to your reading list

    http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/what-capitalism

    http://libcom.org/library/corporate-greed-or-just-plain-old-capitalism

    http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/revolution-or-reform

    http://libcom.org/library/capitalism-class-class-struggle-ex-dummies

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    1. Finding & Harnessing Hope20 November 2013 at 01:00

      Thanks for that. Will get round to reading them in the hope that they are a relatively easy read. I'm not exactly unintelligent but I'm sometimes stymied by academic speak which leaves me not seeing the wood for the trees! Am convinced that some folk, interested in maintaining their own areas of expertise, use jargon and esoteric language which does nothing to make the picture clearer.

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  5. Anonymous20 November 2013 at 03:08

    Posted by ZEV on November 19, 2013, 7:45 pm

    "Free Market" misnomer - it´s dominated & rigged by mob-like monopolies of course.

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