Capitalism 101

In 1940, Woody Guthrie wrote the folk song, “This Land is Your Land,” a song that is still sung by many well-intentioned folk singers.

Yet, when we look at the history of the US, can we truly believe that this land belongs to us? We live under a system called capitalism, a system that features and honors privatization and, the so-called market place where everything is for sale . . . and that includes dignity and integrity.

The ethos of the capitalist is to continuously strive to own and profit from anything of value, whether it be on the land, under the land, in the sea, or in the air above us. If everything of value is owned by a small group of select people, what is it that belongs to us?

Several years ago, while walking the streets of Manhattan, downtown in the Wall Street area, I stepped up onto a promenade and began shooting photographs. Within seconds, a security guard approached me and informed me that I could not take pictures from the promenade because it was privately owned.

I was dumbfounded and speechless that right in the middle of what I considered a public street, I was standing on someone’s private property with their own set of rules and restrictions.

From the time we are young enough to understand, we are taught that private ownership and making lots of money are our goals in life. And, sure enough, these lessons have borne fruit. If we look at the colleges today, the overwhelming number of college students enrolled in banking and finance courses is impressive. That’s where the money is and that’s where many of our young people want to be.

How has capitalism effected the quality of life here in the US? First we have to be aware of the fact that capitalism succeeds when there is an expansion of and access to resources and markets. This results in the US going outside its own borders to gain such access (imperialism).

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) was formed in 1997. PNAC advocated that the US should adopt a “benevolent global hegemony.” It described the United States as the “world’s pre-eminent power,” and said that the nation faced a challenge to “shape a new century favorable to American principles and interests.” In order to achieve this goal, the statement’s signers called for significant increases in defense spending, and for the promotion of “political and economic freedom abroad.” It said the United States should strengthen ties with its democratic allies, “challenge regimes hostile to our interests and values,” and preserve and extend “an international order friendly to our security, our prosperity, and our principles.”

If we look closely at what the PNAC was advocating and what the US role has been globally, we can conclude that there has been a pre-ordained agenda that this country’s leadership has been following . . . wars, regime changes, terrorism, etc. It is the US’s imperialistic goals that necessitate a bloated military budget so that the US can provide military assistance to overthrow regimes that are not friendly and refuse to allow their resources to be controlled by US investors looking for personal profit. They instead are adopting policies that will nationalize their resources so that their own people benefit.

Who has been profiting from this? War is very profitable for the corporate elite of certain industries. The weapons industry does well, all corporations that have contracts with the Pentagon and the Defense Department have done well, the corporations that contract to provide various services to US troops have done well, paid, private mercenaries have done well.

It is we, the working class citizens who have not done very well. It is our sons and daughters who are sent to fight, kill, and die in order to fulfill the goals of the imperialist’s agenda . . . goals that will not benefit us at all but will certainly provide profits for the elite class.

While hundreds of billions of dollars are spent to enforce US hegemony, the infrastructure of this country is neglected, services for those in need are not available, and the safety net has become inadequate.

War is not the only thing imposed on us by the rulers. Poverty is a creation of the capitalist structure. Workers are needed to do the labor that is needed to produce or manufacture the products and to provide the services. Of course, any good capitalist would want the cost of labor to be as cheap as possible allowing for a greater margin of profit.

For the capitalist to achieve his goal of cheap labor, there must be a greater number of potential workers in the labor pool than the potential number of jobs. Hence we get unemployment which results in poverty which results in a vulnerable, dependent labor pool.

The only leverage the worker has is a united front through organized labor unions. Recognizing this, the capitalists, with the help of government, decimated the union movement rendering labor vulnerable to the whims and demands of the elite owners. The owners could then dictate the conditions of employment leaving the worker to take it or leave it.

A perfect example of the capitalist agenda is highlighted in Michael Moore’s 1989 film, “Roger and Me.” Moore highlighted the impact on the economy of Flint, Michigan, when General Motors CEO Roger Smith decided to close several auto plants in that city. Over 30,000 workers lost their jobs.

Was General Motors losing money operating these factories in Flint? NO! They were closing them to move to Mexico where they found labor costs were cheaper and profits potentially higher.

What was General Motors’ allegiance to the workers and to the Flint community? ZILCH, NADA. For the capitalist, the allegiance is to the stockholders and the bottom line.

What has happened since 1989 is the increase in the number of jobs being moved out of the US to countries where labor is cheap (NAFTA, North American Free Trade Agreement, is just one example). US workers, through the “New World Order,” shorthand for US domination, are now competing with workers in foreign countries who make the same amount of money in one day that US workers can earn in one hour.

When President Obama pats himself on the back for being successful in reducing unemployment in the US, he is being deceitful. Statistics are vulnerable to manipulation and manipulate they did. The unemployed in this case, do not include the tens of thousands who have become so discouraged, they have stopped looking for work. Nor does it include those who had full-time jobs at decent salaries who have now become part-time workers, earning insufficient wages because those are the only jobs they could find.

As a separate note, part-time workers are not entitled to the fringe benefits full-time workers can get. This includes health insurance, pensions, sick leave, paid vacation time, etc.

My dear friends, we have been involved in a war, a class war, declared on workers many decades ago. Yet, when discussing life in the US, ordinary people, often those struggling to survive, will very likely defend capitalism and this country and express how honored they are to be able to live here.

The capitalist often defends the ethos of capitalism, its greed, its exploitation, its competitiveness over cooperativeness by declaring that this way of life reflects the true nature of man.

Others might say, man needs motivation and incentive to achieve great things. Unfortunately, the capitalist sees monetary reward as the only worthwhile motivator and incentive. Is there no incentive or reward in making contributions to the welfare and well being of people in your community and country? Is there no incentive in finding the cure for a disease other than the financial benefits to be derived?

The capitalist reduces humankind to a simplistic entity, universally satisfied with only the personal accumulation of wealth.

It is time to wake up and smell the coffee. Look around you . . . what is capitalism doing for you?

Allow me to share a letter written by a woman who grew up in the communist Soviet Union. She, like many other Russians did not appreciate what they had and what the government provided for them until it was no longer available. It is easy to take for granted the many things that have been provided for you and only recognize their importance when they are no longer available.

As you read her description of life in the USSR, compare what you have been told about the Soviet Union with what she describes. Also ask yourself, what would it be like for me if things were different here in the US?

Just wanted to share my thoughts and memories about the USSR. When I was living there I didn’t appreciate all the benefits provided by the government (as everybody else). But now, I can compare how life is different in two systems.

In the USSR:

● nice kindergartens for kids—minimum payments

● free sport clubs—great sport facilities

● music schools—minimum payments

● free education. Actually, they paid us stipends (small amount of money to survive). In middle school we were obligated to go to opera or ballet or museums (free for us). They wanted us to be with a broad-based knowledge.

● 100% guaranty to get a job after your graduation. They offered any job for us so we can choose which one is better. My Mom never was afraid to lose her job. She was a chief accountant and worked 35 years for the same company. Retirement age for women—55, for men—60.

● free Healthcare for everybody

- paid maternity leave before and after labour for 1–1.5 years.

● paid vacation for 30 days starting from 1st year

● free package tours in the country paid by employer

● free health resorts paid by employer

● free dwellings for many people with minimum payment for gas and electricity

This is how we lived under ‘horrible inhuman regime.’ No freedom at all.

It was getting worse in the 80s because of government corruption. And in 1991 this country was destroyed.”

It was in 1991 that the Soviet Union collapsed and there was a transformation from a communist system to a capitalist system. This writer refers to it as the country being destroyed.

Please note that this woman describes a system where everyone has a job, everyone has an affordable place to live, everyone has health care, and everyone has free education. This is what the goals of socialism/communism are. What’s missing are the millionaires and billionaires as well as homelessness and poverty.

The US often projects itself as the leader of the “free” world. Yet, under capitalism, nothing is free, everything is for sale and we, the people, are mere commodities in the overall scheme of things.

We think we are “free” but we are merely pawns being used by the ruling class and discarded when we are no longer valuable to them.

We think we live in a democracy because we get to vote for “our” representatives. What we really get to vote for is which of the candidates, Republican or Democrat, selected by the ruling class, do we want to screw us. These are not “our” representatives . . . they are bought and paid for by those people who run this country.

Socialism is not a dirty word and it may be the only salvation left for humanity. Capitalism is destroying the air and the water, wasting resources, and exploiting people. Socialism offers a solution to the problems we face. Let us refuse to be brainwashed with the propaganda issued by the capitalist class that socialism is evil.

GOD BLESS AMERIKA!!!

Dave Alpert has masters degrees in social work, educational administration, and psychology. He spent his career working with troubled inner city adolescents.