Larry Gambone on Corporate Welfare Reform
It isn't necessary to control corporate capitalism with legislation that restricts its harmful aspects. Simply pull the plug on it – abolish corporate law, patents, eliminate all forms of government assistance, no more state as capitalist goon squad, repeal all anti-worker legislation....
Without its state provided life support systems, corporate capitalism would gradually disappear, in the same way the Mom and Pop hamburger joint faded away thanks to MacDonalds. Only this time the evolution would be in the opposite direction. Nature abhors a vacuum, with the state's vicious pets dying off, small businesses, small farms and local production would return. I suspect many new ventures would be cooperatives. With a high level of local production and local consumption the vagaries of the corporate created world market would lessen and we could evolve into a “steady state economy” rather than the ecological insanity of “growth as God.”
posted by Kevin Carson | 11:33 PM
7 Comments:
Then our task becomes explaining to people why a world without MegaCorp, Inc. is preferrable. In my experience, this is more difficult and more energy intensive an argument than I would otherwise expect. I guess what I'm wondering at this point is the pragmatic way forward: how do we make mutualism relevant to normal people who just want to live their lives?
Thanks for running this, Kevin.
Jeremy, one of the major things that gets in the way of ordinary people living their own lives is precisely Megacorp Inc.
Excellent post. I think, though, that Megalocorp is EASIER to people. It's easier to just buy McDonalds with an outlet on every corner. Especially, as the negative side effects of a Megalocorp operation on every corner are hidden, or long term in nature...
Perhaps my view is fashioned from living in Canada where an awful lot of people don't like Megacorp, even if, paradoxically, many of these same people still might go for a "bargain" at Walmart. The "corporations are always right" types are Canuck neocons and they only represent 36% of the population. Here, at least, the problem seems less about educating people about the evils of Megacorp, than making them understand that Megacorp was not inevitable, like a law of nature, but imposed from above by government-corporate collusion.
Convenience is the really big issue. Corporations have found ingenious ways to make their existence seem indispensable to people. Most people believe that life would be much harder without McDonalds, WalMart, etc. Externalized costs allow people to put a huge premium on their own time and convenience without dealing properly with the consequences.
Part of me believes that people won't give up on corporate hegemony until it becomes too expensive or collapses. The whole illusion is just too convincing. And one has to remember that at this point people can't really remember not having the big corporate entities presiding over life. They work for them, they buy from them... it's "easier" the same way that buying from the company store was "easier" for miners...
"Part of me believes that people won't give up on corporate hegemony until it beomes too expensive or collapses"
I agree, that is the most likely situation
It's collapsing.
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