The Rigged Game
Someone who knows me well took me to task this week on account of my contempt for capitalism. His complaint paraphrased, – “Do you mean to say the guy operating the corner grocery down the street is an avaricious, exploiting….etc.” He and I were not in a situation to discuss the matter at length, but my response to him was “yes and no.” Capitalism is the system upon which everyone depends, within which we work. To the extent that we must support an institution designed to maximize profit for the few at the expense of the well being of the many, all of us are culpable for the harm done. On the other hand, the “small business” man or woman may understand that “earning a living” entails financial obligation to oneself, to one’s family, and a concurrent obligation to demonstrate decency, to practice kindness to employees and customers etc. In short there is financial and human responsibility entailed upon anyone who assumes agency in the market place.
Capitalism, as currently practiced emphasizes financial performance, often exploiting front line workers, as well as customers,… The increase of capital, profit, (visualize a pile of money) is typically supercharged by exploitation. Or so it seems to me. This is, capitalism’s dark underbelly of injustice. It is quite difficult to avoid becoming either a victim or a collaborator in this socially constructed game.
“What is the basis for your contention?” you are certain to ask. My basis comes from forty years of personal experience as owner and operator of a business, feeling and observing, involved in the scrum of competition. It was balancing on a “high wire,” of care for myself, of care for others, of care for the company, and for profit.
On February 2nd the New York Times published an article detailing the dilemma of part-time employment affecting uncounted households in our country. Companies such as Chipotle are loathe to offer full time employment for many reasons. The other side of this equation is the immiseration of a large indefinite number of working class adults and their children. Is this state of affairs inevitable, imposed by necessity? Not at all. Is there a prospect for change, increased empowerment of the employee in the future? Not that I can see.
To read the New York Times article by Noam Scheiber about Brenda Garcia’s story CLICK HERE.
4 thoughts on “The Rigged Game”
I count about five lies in the Sarah Palin quote you included.
Lies? Surely you are not implying that Palin intends to mislead? My sense is that she is completely sincere. That her statements are at variance with the experience of many makes no difference to her, and to millions who “believe” as does she.
The capitalist servile dedication has a quasi-religious quality. In fact statements of support are often uttered in the same breath as fidelity to Christian values and to country (patriotism.)
Journalism reports on what is. I see philosophy’s main function as describing what could be, and especially what ought to be.
Your complaints adequately lay out a problem, but seem resigned to it, as if no other state of affairs is possible.
It always is easy to envision a future worse than the present — just select whatever you like about current reality and imagine it gone. Proposing a brighter future is much more difficult because it demands the hard work of creation, if only at first in one’s mind.
Capitalism is a kind of gambling game. It can be played as a free-for-all; or the least successful players can be supported; or the most successful players can be handicapped; or various combinations of these and other strategies can be used to keep the outcome from being always pre-ordained. Or the system could be scrapped and replaced … by what?
Do you want a economy and a society modeled after a casino? Gambling houses are egregiously unfair to the participant, raping them first mentally and spiritually to seduce them to believe an illusion. The house then proceeds to take their money. It is one thing to willingly go to Las Vegas, to know that one is going to lose.
What if the entire country, even the world becomes Las Vegas. You cannot chose to leave.
Ask yourself, is that what I want?