Today’s post is Part 2 of the podcast. In Part 1 we discussed what has gone wrong with modern capitalism, and in Part 2 we seek answers as to what it will take to make it right. Some say, “We need to get rid of capitalism entirely!” Some say, “We need conscious capitalism!” Some say, “We need socialism!” Some - myself among them - say genuine transformation will have less to do with the words we use and more to do with conceptualizing what a fair economy looks like. Transformation is more an evolutionary process than an on-off switch that applies more to theory than to practice.
We have to do something about this. I have not listened to the whole thing yet, but I hope Marianne says something about rampant consumerism. Consumers have free will to abstain from buying so much unnecessary junk that is manufactured —many times in unhealthy ways with slave labor, and involves poisoning workers and the environment— at a great distance from the end consumer, and then shipped across seas at a real cost that is far greater than the price on the label. Consumers have free will. STOP BUYING ALL THIS SH1#. I am as guilty as the next person. We need to stop this rampant consumerism; I believe to abstain from buying frivolous stuff we do not need (and even stuff we think we need) is part of the solution.
Thanks for all you do and have done over the decades.
Great piece on transforming Capitalism. I am in agreement with all of the sentiments, yet there is a critical factor missing from the strategies of Bernie, Stephanie, Prof Wolf et al - all of whom I revere.
Let's say we successfully roll out our strategies: our government starts working for the people, worker-owned companies become the norm, wages go up etc. Unfortunately, as we’ve seen in the past everytime wages increase or when we manage to get more money into the hands of average Americans as with the CARES Act, the people controlling vital resources and services simply raise prices accordingly, and all of those gains are eventually for naught.
This ongoing dynamic of politicians and problem solvers focusing solely on the left side of the "Wages < Costs of Living" equation, while completely ignoring the right side, not only renders our strategies ultimately as failed but sets off a whole web of negative effects.
For instance, by failing to effectively address our constantly inflating and hyperinflating land & housing system, we end up damaging the environment. How? As costs of living inflate, employers must pay employees higher wages (even the multitude of companies who don’t fall into the greedy, global corporatist category.) This drives up production costs, making it harder and harder to compete with producers in other countries. We then become more reliant on imports. So instead of producing goods domestically and transporting them shorter distances via efficient rail, these goods come to us from across the vast Pacific via inefficient ships - a huge and unnecessary burden to the environment.
Not dealing with the right side of the equation means parents must spend more and more hours working, leaving less and less time to spend with their children.
Not dealing with the right side of the equation destroys the ethos of our country as those with the means are able to make money not from producing or putting time and energy into providing real, legitimate services but by simply taking advantage of inflation and the inflationary effects of supply and demand. Meanwhile those who are putting time and energy into actually producing real goods and providing real services are forced to work the extra hours inherently required to pay the profits of the former group as they profiteer from inflation. As you say in the podcast, these hard-working people who continue to be economically oppressed despite their real and meaningful contributions become much more prone to fascist rhetoric.
By not dealing with the right side of the equation labor moves from necessity to luxury, taking the manpower needed to fix our most pressing problems with it.
In Parts I & II of your podcast, I believe housing was mentioned four times, but not explored. The web of negative effects from failing to address our dysfunctional land & housing system is huge. As housing is the biggest monthly financial nut to crack for the largest number of people, how could it not be? Yet our politicians, pundits, economists, the Fed, etc. constantly ignore or severely downplay the impacts our dysfunctional land & housing system plays on society and the average American’s personal economy.
It is impossible to successfully address wealth inequality without concurrently effectively addressing our dysfunctional, inequitable land & housing system, which itself can't be done without examining the system holistically and identifying and effectively addressing its deepest, systemic roots.
Again, successfully implementing all of the strategies you've laid out for transforming Capitalism will be for naught if we don't concurrently effectively address the underlying systems that enable those controlling necessities such as land & housing to use the leverage of those necessities to extract the fruits of the labors from those putting time and energy into producing real goods and providing real, legitimate services. Instead of the Return to Love we were hoping for, it would in short order be the Return to Not 'Nuff we thought we'd be escaping.
So Marianne, do you have a plan to effectively address constantly inflating and hyperinflating costs of living? If so what is it?...I'll show you my plans if you'll show me yours!!
We have to do something about this. I have not listened to the whole thing yet, but I hope Marianne says something about rampant consumerism. Consumers have free will to abstain from buying so much unnecessary junk that is manufactured —many times in unhealthy ways with slave labor, and involves poisoning workers and the environment— at a great distance from the end consumer, and then shipped across seas at a real cost that is far greater than the price on the label. Consumers have free will. STOP BUYING ALL THIS SH1#. I am as guilty as the next person. We need to stop this rampant consumerism; I believe to abstain from buying frivolous stuff we do not need (and even stuff we think we need) is part of the solution.
Hi Marianne,
Thanks for all you do and have done over the decades.
Great piece on transforming Capitalism. I am in agreement with all of the sentiments, yet there is a critical factor missing from the strategies of Bernie, Stephanie, Prof Wolf et al - all of whom I revere.
Let's say we successfully roll out our strategies: our government starts working for the people, worker-owned companies become the norm, wages go up etc. Unfortunately, as we’ve seen in the past everytime wages increase or when we manage to get more money into the hands of average Americans as with the CARES Act, the people controlling vital resources and services simply raise prices accordingly, and all of those gains are eventually for naught.
This ongoing dynamic of politicians and problem solvers focusing solely on the left side of the "Wages < Costs of Living" equation, while completely ignoring the right side, not only renders our strategies ultimately as failed but sets off a whole web of negative effects.
For instance, by failing to effectively address our constantly inflating and hyperinflating land & housing system, we end up damaging the environment. How? As costs of living inflate, employers must pay employees higher wages (even the multitude of companies who don’t fall into the greedy, global corporatist category.) This drives up production costs, making it harder and harder to compete with producers in other countries. We then become more reliant on imports. So instead of producing goods domestically and transporting them shorter distances via efficient rail, these goods come to us from across the vast Pacific via inefficient ships - a huge and unnecessary burden to the environment.
Not dealing with the right side of the equation means parents must spend more and more hours working, leaving less and less time to spend with their children.
Not dealing with the right side of the equation destroys the ethos of our country as those with the means are able to make money not from producing or putting time and energy into providing real, legitimate services but by simply taking advantage of inflation and the inflationary effects of supply and demand. Meanwhile those who are putting time and energy into actually producing real goods and providing real services are forced to work the extra hours inherently required to pay the profits of the former group as they profiteer from inflation. As you say in the podcast, these hard-working people who continue to be economically oppressed despite their real and meaningful contributions become much more prone to fascist rhetoric.
By not dealing with the right side of the equation labor moves from necessity to luxury, taking the manpower needed to fix our most pressing problems with it.
In Parts I & II of your podcast, I believe housing was mentioned four times, but not explored. The web of negative effects from failing to address our dysfunctional land & housing system is huge. As housing is the biggest monthly financial nut to crack for the largest number of people, how could it not be? Yet our politicians, pundits, economists, the Fed, etc. constantly ignore or severely downplay the impacts our dysfunctional land & housing system plays on society and the average American’s personal economy.
It is impossible to successfully address wealth inequality without concurrently effectively addressing our dysfunctional, inequitable land & housing system, which itself can't be done without examining the system holistically and identifying and effectively addressing its deepest, systemic roots.
Again, successfully implementing all of the strategies you've laid out for transforming Capitalism will be for naught if we don't concurrently effectively address the underlying systems that enable those controlling necessities such as land & housing to use the leverage of those necessities to extract the fruits of the labors from those putting time and energy into producing real goods and providing real, legitimate services. Instead of the Return to Love we were hoping for, it would in short order be the Return to Not 'Nuff we thought we'd be escaping.
So Marianne, do you have a plan to effectively address constantly inflating and hyperinflating costs of living? If so what is it?...I'll show you my plans if you'll show me yours!!
With Love, Housing Revolution 2022