If the definitionsa re got right the whole thing follows logically. How
about these:
The Essentials of Capitalism
1. Standard definition:
"...under capitalism ownership of the means of production is vested with
one set of indi-viduals while work is performed by another ... the buying
and selling of labour power is the differentia specifica of capitalism." P.
Sweezy, The Theory of Capitalist Development: Principles of Marxian
Political Economy, (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1942), 56.
2. C.B. Macpherson's moral corollary:
"...a capitalist society...compels a continual net transfer of part of the
power of some men to others, thus diminishing rather than maximizing the
equal individual freedom to use and develop one's natural capacities which
is claimed [by the proponents of capitalism]." C.B. Macpherson, Democratic
Theory: Essay in Retrieval, 10-11.
3. And related Macpherson states:
"�when the liberal property right is written into law as an individual
right to the exclusive use and disposal of parcels of the resources
provided by nature and of parcels of capital created by past work on them,
and when it is combined with the liberal system of market incentives and
rights of free contract, it leads to and supports a concentration of
ownership and a system of power between individuals and classes which
negates the ethical goal of free and independent individual development."
C.B. Macpherson, Property: Mainstream and Critical Positions, 199-200.
4. Capitalism as Governance:
"Capitalism, more than a system of resource allocation and income
dis-tri-bution, is a system of governance." S. Bowles and H. Gintis,
Democracy and Capitalism: Property, Community and the Contradictions of
Modern Social Thought, (New York Basic Books, 1987), xi.
5. Mander's Consistent List:
Jerry Mander, "The Rules of Corporate Behaviour," in J. Mander and E.
Goldsmith, eds., The Case Against the Global Economy and for a Turn Toward
the Local, (San Francisco: Sierra Club Books 1996), 309-322.
1. the profit imperative ("�the ultimate measure �It takes precedence
over community well-being, worker health, public health, peace,
environmental preservation, or national security." Recall (see the
Introduction to this book, page 4) the differences between the negative
freedoms desired by workers and society within capitalism and the positive
freedoms of capital against workers and society.)
2 the growth imperative (p. 316-to exist is to grow larger and more
powerful,"�the world's few remaining pristine places are sacrificed to
corporate production. The people's who inhabit these resource rich regions
are�pressured to give up their traditional ways��Banks will resist funding
companies that limit their growth.�Corporate culture" abhors limiting goals
and profits.")
3. competition and aggression (p. 316-"[externally]�you must
aggressively push to win against the other corporations [and internally]
�you must be ready to climb over your own colleagues.")
4 amorality (p. 316-317-"Not being human, not having feelings,
corporations do not have morals or altruistic goals. [they]�seek to hide
their amorality and attempt to act as if they were altruistic, [though]
�They have little interest in community goals except the ones that serve
their purposes. �When corporations say we care it is almost always in
response to the widespread [perception that they do not care. And they
don't. How could they? �All their acts are in service to profit.")
5. hierarchy (p. 317-top down management decision making, "�rarely
questioned � [though] �effective, non-hierarchical modes of organization
exist on the planet and have been successful for millennia.")
6. quantification, linearity and segmentation (p. 318-the only
'values' that are important are quantifiable for profit purposes , e.g.,
"automobile manufacturers evaluating the safety level of certain production
standards calculate the number of probable accidents and deaths at each
level of the standard. The number is then compared with the cost of
insurance payments and lawsuits from dead driver's families" etc.; workers
are mere cogs in the corporate wheels)
7. dehumanization (p. 318-the employee is objectified and dehumanized,
depersonalized,),
8. exploitation (p. 319-"Karl Marx was right: A worker is not
compensated for the full value of his or her labour; neither is the raw
material supplier�While the worker earns a wage, the owner of capital
receives the benefit of the worker's labour plus the surplus profit the
worker produces, which is then reinvested to produce yet more surplus.�the
formula remains intact profit is based on paying less than actual value for
workers and resources"),
9. ephemerality and mobility (p. 319-existence beyond time and space
"Having no morality, no commitment to place, and no physical nature�the
traditional idea of community engagement is antithetical to corporate
behavior"),
10. opposition to nature (p. 320-the control of nature and the
transmogrification of what is extracted from nature.
11. homogenization (p. 320-of choice and of cultures).
Dr. W. Robert Needham
Director, Canadian Studies Program
St. Paul's United College
University of Waterloo
Waterloo Ontario N2L 3G5
http://arts.uwaterloo.ca/ECON/faculty/needham.html
