Is the “free enterprise system”
that brought fame to Adam Smith and his revolutionary book “An Inquiry into the
Nature and Causes of the Wealth of the Nations” what we are witnessing today? Obviously the market is no
longer free and almost every trade is monopolized by a few chains and
conglomerates. Mr. Smith also spoke of “invisible hands”. In spite of the
governments’ attempts to hide its hands, they have been visible for the past
few years! People are very much aware of the governments’ pouring taxpayers’ money
into Wall Street in order to keep corrupt companies afloat. In fact, the system
that Mr. Smith and Mr. Ricardo and others introduced in the late 18th
century could never work without the help of the government. You are asking why
and how?! It is easy to figure it out. The government distributed land to those
selected, and tradesmen were cajoled into factories as "employees". You may say
it was peoples’ own choice to work for companies. Let us make it more clear
with an example. Next time you are at your auto mechanic’s shop, the one you
have been using for a long time because of his expertise, ask him this
question: would you close your shop down and find employment in the assembly
line of a factory, where you would repeatedly work only on a small section of
the engine, or a part of what you are currently engaged in, and in a daily
basis? You will not have the benefit of being your own boss, but you get paid
in regular basis without worrying about when and how the next customer would
bring some business to you. He will accept the challenge if he is not as good
in his trade as you thought he was! From the very beginning of the new market
system, labor was forced by the government from small shops or from farming
fields into factories. Today, the same government destroys any unions workers have
established, but industry owners and directors can easily and openly have their
own unions under or followed by titles such as Chamber of Commerce, guild, association,
league, or society. They have openly created a union with government officials
under the nickname ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council), funded by Koch
brothers, who have meetings this very week. The unity between workers is crushed
in all levels. Since industrialists can get together and set prices in unison,
you notice that when the price of gas in one gas station is raised, every other
station in town is raising its price by the same ratio. You hear a rise in the
price of bread, milk, cereal, meat, …., and other necessary products. You do not hear the price of a certain
brand of milk, for instance, is raised, but they are all raised at the same
time, in proportion to the original prices. So, let me see now; what happened
to the price being determined by competition?
So much for the “invisible hands” and labor and competition
and market price, none of which is working the way Mr. Smith predicted. But why
would the government support a small percentage of individual investors against
the majority of workers who elected that government? How does that work? This
is where the media becomes a strong tool of the wealthy and the mighty. In 2002
BBC production of the “The Century of the Self”, Adam Curtis examined how
Edward Bernay learned from his uncle, Sigmund Freud, how an unconscious mind
worked. Bernay used this knowledge to tap into people’s minds and feed them with certain
information. Since it was done cunningly, those who were subjected to this “information
feeding” were in the belief that the idea was of their own. Bernay built an
empire based on that, by introducing a term that has become a household term
since; Public Relations. Although his services were to be used as promotional
tools of industries, the government got a hold of it, and public official’s
propaganda and campaign structures was formed, what Noam Chomsky termed as
“Manufacturing Consent”. Before the industrialization of the west, we had
experienced centuries of feudalism, when a few landowners exploited a large
majority of slaves, serfs, share-croppers and farmers, as agents of
governments. With the advent of industrialization, factories replaced lands,
and feudal group became capitalists. The capitalist was not an agent of the
government as the feudal was, so the government became the agent of the
capitalist! Of course it did not happen overnight, and it has taken a couple of
centuries to form the system we are witnessing today. We all know that
elections in the US are totally corrupt because of the form and the amount of
contributions, in addition to the system of electing a president (Electoral College), which does
not reflect vote of the people. It is a race among those on the top echelon in business.
However, those who vote for either of the two parties (the majority) are under
the impression that they are indeed electing their government officials. And if
this gets interrupted by educated voter, then junk food news media (the term is
borrowed from Project Censored) starts misinforming. So, while the big almighty
on the top are scratching each other’s back, an army of unemployed is lining up
begging to be hired by them. What is needed now, since the labor is cheap
and wealth is accumulating, cheap raw material. This is the time that foreign
policy of the government is crucial! The best foreign policy, as it has always
been the case in the history, is accumulating the largest stockpile of weaponry,
and using the same public relation technique; i.e. recruiting and training the most
vicious and cut throat army. Of course, it is better to have a secret service
to try to topple nationalist and democratic mineral rich governments, and
replace that government with a paid dictator. When efforts of the secret
service does not obtain any result, then the military has to finish the job for the rich and
the mighty.
One important factor that separates US government from a
dictatorship is that American government provides its populace with choices in
election times. There is a freedom of speech, to voice one’s objections (while big brother is watching)! Two of the parties are very strong,
and the rest are kept on the sidelines. So, we think we have a choice, even if
we call it the difference between bad and worse. We are addicted to
competition, so we chose the one that we hope to win (50% chance), not knowing
that our collective action is the winning card for the system. Of course, the
difference between these two parties is the difference between Coke and Pepsi, or
we may call it the difference between John Maynard Keynes and Milton Freedman. Did
you know that after the third American president, four presidents in a row
(Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Adams) belonged to Democratic- Republican Party?
This is the time when there was no distinction between democrats or
republicans, as it is now! They started from the same platform. Then,
Republican Party separated itself as the party that was more concerned about
people than the wealthy landowners, while Democratic Party stayed with its
roots. Abraham Lincoln who is widely celebrated as people’s president was
nominated by the Republican Party. Gradually, they changed places, to the point
that some other presidents known as people’s presidents, such as FDR and JFK,
were nominated by the Democratic Party. Jimmy Carter was the last Democratic
President who belonged to FDR and JFK camp. His successor, Reagan, was the
first Republican President to push Republican Party towards the ultra-right
wing, now called Neoliberalism and Tea Party. Democrats, from very beginning of
Reagan’s government, who had been attacked in the previous four years by pro-Zionists
and Wall Street, rushed to separate themselves from any liberal agenda, and to
lick the heels of Republican Party. Some may remember that George H. W. Bush
defeated Dukakis in the election campaign of 1988 by calling Dukakis a liberal
(emphasizing letter L), while Dukakis was dodging and denying being a liberal!
Today, there are more representatives of people, in comparison of course, on
the left side of the Republican Party than there are in the right wing of Democratic Party. No
wonder that we end up with a president who is a betrayal to all progressives.
When Ralph Nader said (at the beginning of Obama's first term, paraphrasing) 'let us see if he
will act as Uncle Sam or Uncle Tom', there was an outcry by many progressives calling his remarks
racist. I wonder if they would say the same thing today. Someone once said that
Obama gathered those who hated him around him (such as Rahm Immanuel) not the
ones who loved him. Last week on Thanksgiving Day, Obama pardoned two turkeys,
as presidents do each year. He has pardoned 10 turkeys, while he has pardoned 39
people, during his time in the office. Ronald Reagan who was named earlier as
the pioneer of neoliberalism, who turned the US from a creditor nation to a debtor nation, who started a wave of ultra-right that has been exponentially expanded to this day, pardoned 313 people during his presidency.
Harry Truman, the only president who used atomic bomb on people, and killed
more than 250,000 people just by the drop of those bombs, pardoned 1,537 people.
In comparison, Obama is the least merciful president, although he tries his best
to look compassionate. For example, after several legislation and public
outcry, he announced yesterday that he supported increase of minimum wage to
$10/ hour. I just checked Obama’s salary. He is making $400K per year plus an
expense account of $50K. Considering that he receives full benefits of at least
$50K/year, his hourly rate before tax (of course tax on $400K only) just from
presidency is $240/hour for 2,080 annual work hour. Since 2009, according to
official estimates which is probably a very low estimate, he has killed 2,353
by Drone attacks thus far. There are estimates of three times this amount
killed in other countries due to covert and overt US operations. It means that
Obama receives $240 for each person he kills overseas. We also know that there
are executives of failed banks (rescued by Obama and Bush) who receive a few
million dollars per year in salaries and benefits, and do not have direct hand
in killing of anyone overseas. Considering that, I believe Obama should receive
even a higher salary, having so much blood on his hands! Of course, the
right-turn is global and with the austerity push of the World Bank and
International Monetary Fund, right wing governments are pushed up in most of
the European countries. If Obama and Democratic Party make Joseph McCarthy look
like Noam Chomsky, then British Labor Party makes Margaret Thatcher look like Natalie
Bennett, French Socialist Party Makes Nicolas Sarkozy look like Jean-Paul
Sartre, and Social Democratic Party of Germany makes Adolf Hitler look like
Karl Marx!
My grandmother used to explain the cause of earthquakes by
depletion of the oil and gas from deep earth. She said that when layers
underground did not get enough air due to extraction of gas, and also when the ground was drilled dry, because of pumping crude oil, the earth cracked and trembled! I used to laugh at my grandmother for coming up with such
unscientific tales. However, whatever the reasoning, she was right about
something. We are inflicting more damage on our environment than it can sustain our life form. Directors of companies do not report to common
people, but to shareholders. The legal and fiduciary responsibility of
directors is increasing profits, in any shape or form possible. They have to be
careful of damages to the environment and people’s welfare, only to the extent
of lawsuits. It is proven over and over again that most of the companies take a
chance on this, considering their deep pockets for legal fees. Personnel are
treated the same way. When there is an army of workers competing for the same
job, the employer has an upper hand. They can even cut the benefits they had
already promised to their employees after they were hired. If employees go on
strike or if they object in any form or fashion, they can easily be replaced.
Have you ever thought, why workers go on strike for not receiving what they
were promised, but directors never go on strike for lack of work efficiency of
workers?! Of course, only those with union jobs can go on strike anyway, while most
governments since Reagan have been famous for their union busting techniques. American
people are so proud of their democracy, while they are constantly afraid of
losing their jobs, while their managers exercise absolute autonomy. Even secure
jobs, such as those of the Federal Government are under attack. When
privatizing becomes the policy of the government, those who have money can buy
hospitals and enrich themselves by sick people, or buy jails and enrich
themselves when there are more criminal convictions. In such an environment,
putting parks and post offices for sale would not be a strange occurrence!
Since there is no social welfare, such as adequate unemployment benefits,
social security, and health, losing a job could lead to homelessness. What is
more beneficial for a company is to have control of health and education by
privatizing both, since more sick and educated people are more vulnerable and
submit easier. In addition, by strengthening the police force and by creating a
police state, no one would challenge killing of mentally challenged and
minorities and children. On the other hand, it is clear that there is no use for
production when there is no one to buy. For a country in which main economic
measure is based on consumer consumption, one may think that people should be
allowed to earn enough money to continue their consumerism, at least for the sake of the economy. When there is none or a
minimal social service, people can afford to purchase only necessary items such
as food and clothing. How long can this situation continue before factories are
forced to close down? Where is the rich going to spend their money; outside of
their own country and in the country they have been exploiting their minerals?
Would the capitalist countries collapse soon?! The Pope has come against
capitalism and its treatment of people. Perhaps God almighty has told him
something that we don’t know; or capitalism would collapse and religion’s
predictions of apocalypse would come true for the first time. Or is there something that I am
not getting?!
