America Beyond Capitalism - Gar Alperovitz - Part 1

America Beyond Capitalism -
Gar Alperovitz

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 119

  April 29, 2017 

Book 35 - America Beyond Capitalism -
Reclaiming our Wealth, our Liberty and our Democracy

Gar Alperovitz (2005)
 Part 1 - pages v-xv, 1-41
Reading Time - 1 hour

Okkkaaayyy... now we're into some heavy duty economics, with a fair dose of politics and sociology.

Here's the thing... America is in trouble. Serious trouble. Equality, Liberty and Democracy are in trouble... and without them, the whole system is in trouble. People have lost their belief in equality, liberty and democracy... more and more Americans are realizing that inequality is rampant, freedom is vanishing and politics is less and less democratic. But that is... in a way... the end product of capitalism. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer and while that happens, power goes to the elite and the rest of the plebes suffer. Sounds kind of depressing.

The author wonders what a new system might look like... if it's not capitalism. There are a lot of real-world experiments taking place (so there is hope). It wouldn't necessarily require a revolution, more a peaceful evolution. But... things will likely get worse before they get better. Given that this book was written a full 12 years ago... I wonder what the author makes of the whole Trump thing?

Now... for some details. Most people in the US (this is all about America) believe that government is run for the benefit of special interest groups (think the gun lobby, the tobacco lobby, the oil company lobby, etc, etc). John McCain, a Republican Senator admitted that it is an "elaborate influence-peddling scheme in which both parties conspire to stay in office by selling the country to the highest bidder". Ugh. Did you know that from 1981-2000, the compensation for the country's top 10 CEOs jumped 4300%??? While the salaries of most plebes increased maybe... 2%. Crazy.

Corporations have enormous power... they are taxed less than at any time in history and the problem isn't likely to be solved by progressive political strategies. The incomes of the bottom 60% of the population have not been keeping up with inflation. People need to work more hours or have their spouses join the workforce just to keep their noses above water. The thing is... capitalism generates inequality. It can be readjusted through taxes and social programs but... that's likely not going to work in the future. What really needs to be addressed is the the underlying relationships - who owns and controls the wealth. Lots of ideas on how that could be accomplished: worker-owned companies, government owning all capital and people getting dividends. Many of these solutions though, depend on unbridled economic growth... and as we know from some of my earlier books... the earth is a finite place with finite resources.

In terms of liberty... people need time in order to participate in democracy. The thing is... big government (and the US government is 37% of the US economy) is anathema to liberty. But... it just keeps getting bigger. Even the Republicans who hate fat government have been unable to reduce its size. The other problem is that big corporations have gotten huge as well... some have bigger economies that entire nations. Most Americans (90% or something) are employees... and that is apparently not what the Founders of America envisioned. They saw a nation of entrepreneurs... not people enslaved to corporations.

The other problem is that there has been a decline in intermediate organizations (churches, clubs, unions, etc.). And that is disastrous. That is where democracy (small "d") gets nourished. But in order to invest in those organizations, people need free time... and in order to have free time, they need economic security. Some places are even toying with the idea of a guaranteed floor-level income.

Basically... things need to be more equitably distributed... wealth and time in particular. People need to believe that their voice matters, that they have a say in how their lives are run. Right now... that's not happening. Sooo... on to the next section!