America Beyond Capitalism - Gar Alperovitz - Part 2

America Beyond Capitalism -
Gar Alperovitz

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 120

  April 30, 2017 

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

Gar Alperovitz (2005)
 Part 2 - pages 42-78
Reading Time - 1 hour

I had to chop up this book into smaller sections. It is pretty dense and took a while to plough through.

Soo... here's the thing... overall there is a decline in voting and in associational activity (think clubs, churches, etc). Which means a general decline in what's called social capital. Democracy, if it's going to renew itself needs to start from the ground up. People need to have a direct experience of democracy, and it starts with local government. Only if there is democracy (small d) can there be Democracy (big D). Again, it's hard to get involved in the local community if you're working 70 hours a week at two jobs. Local economies need to be mae more stable, not so reliant on big corporations who threaten to move to Malaysia if things don't go their way. Worker-owned companies are one possible solution... but any company that has a vested interest in building up a community, rather than just using its workforce to get what it wants.

In terms of Democracy... the problem is this... the super-rich have a better education and it is much easier for them to participate in politics than some poor person from the ghetto who hasn't even gone to college. The thing is... if citizens are not political equals, how can democracy exist? Or... to put it another way... democracy is meaningless if people don't have time to participate.

Many theorists (including Thomas Jefferson) held that larger corporations are incompatible in various ways with democratic practice. I think we could safely agree with that... What do you say about a country that is now run by a corporate billionaire? Where is that going to take democracy? Because large corporations influence legislation, regulatory behaviors, elections, public attitudes and local government. They've got a finger in every pie. Or maybe a hand... or both hands. One counter-balance to corporations has been organized labour (unions) but those are in serious decline.

Apparently though.... for-profit corporations are a creation of society - they exist due to a public charter. So why couldn't they be held to higher standards? Why not review them every year and see if they have ensured good social conduct. If not... revoke their charter and redistribute their wealth. That is mind-blowing... and it's pretty clear that in today's political climate, that isn't going to go very far. On the other hand... corporations could be restructured as partnerships or something.

Another point the author brings up is that America is too large - both in size and population. Some have said that democracy can only flourish in small nations. Most of the US states are too small but... they could be grouped into regions. The economy and politics could be decentralized to those regions. Apparently this is already happening in some states. The Feds are not the be-all and end-all and some states are making changes on their own because of foot-dragging in D.C.

Sooo... if corporate capitalism and socialism don't work... what would work?  The author suggests a Pluralist Commonwealth. Pluralist means it has democratic diversity and individual liberty. Commonwealth means that there would be a centrality of new public and quasi-public wealth-holding institutions. Some states, for example, Alaska, hold a public trust for oil revenues and then give out a dividend every year to each citizen. Better than all the money going to some corporate CEO! The author suggest that a Pluralist Commonwealth could equal or surpass the efficiency of real-world capitalism.

Oy... heavy going... this book.