- Capitalism and Alternatives -

Not in Europe

Posted by: DrCruel on March 29, 1999 at 14:54:02:

In Reply to: pure unrealistic misled hope posted by Crimson Tide on March 26, 1999 at 10:20:24:

Fair enough.

However, there's something to be said for a decentralization of the decision-making process. Ownership ought not to be a tool for coersive practices. Workers should have a voice in the way a business is run, something more than "I quit!" Capitalism allowed unparalleled growth and undreamed for prosperity, but it also creates social dilemnas faster than society can solve them. A culture of mass consumption, freed from cultural ties, turns opportunistic very quickly. The newly affluent drug dealer, rather than look to his long term interests, forgoes college in favor of fast cars, loose women, and cheap guns. This was as prevalent in the 1930's as it is in the 1990's. Rapid prosperity, and the destabilization of society it causes, is a problem of terrible concern in every successful industrial state, from Japan to America.

Might unionized workers have seats on the board, as in Germany? Are there advantages to a strong support netweork for the unemployed, as in Sweden? Might government take a more active role in support of business, as in Japan? All these ideas bear some sort of merit.

Of course, the professional revolutionary can go to the infernal regions. With containment, that can be managed too (as - again - observe Cuba).


Follow Ups:

None.

The Debating Room Post a Followup