Guest blog by Brian Landever, member of the Ethical Markets Reseach Sustainability Group, March 16, 2010
Is it clear what the problem is with unregulated capitalism? It boils down to undignified suffering and destruction of communities.
When the objective is to be as competitive as possible, some will find ways that eliminate any potential for perfect competition. Perfect competition occurs when all firms in an industry have similar production costs and sell their goods at similar costs. Prices that go higher than competitors’ prices will not be accepted by consumers, and a firm that offers lower prices will not make enough to stay in business.
Yet the objective remains to dominate the market, attract the majority of consumers, and increase revenue. Thus the only way to do this is to lower prices and find ways to minimize cost. The budding monopolistic firm contracts production firms abroad that charge less, often sweat shops, and take away jobs from home side producers. The lower prices that are then provided to consumers force out of the industry competitors who supported local and national economy. The dominating firm then provides some of the only jobs available in retail stores, allowing them to offer lower wages. Those who lost jobs in production factories and small community stores then either move away, fall into poverty, or accept a lower wage job in the enlarged firm. Some may move into another field, but the total available in wages is likely to be lower, as it the total number of jobs state side. Overall, there are fewer jobs for Americans money is more heavily concentrated, and living condition of those employed abroad is occasionally atrocious due to the low income provided.
Cell growth becomes cancerous when its rate of replication moves from a constant speed to an accelerating speed. It turns from 2x new cells per day to x² new cells per day, causing the body to eventually become overrun and die. Our society is not separate from the economy. The two are embedded in one another. Excessive growth that disregards the health of ALL inhabitants will cause destruction and decay. Visions of complete domination may always be tempting to that part of our mind that is entertainment driven and lustful, and rationalized as a path to peace through controlled efficiency. Yet the only sustainable choices that will keep us alive and happy for centuries to come will focus on inspired community development. It not only works well, as recently displayed by Nobel Prize winning Elinor Ostrom, but stimulating efficient communication in communities provides a successful vehicle for holding participative democracy, worker-owned businesses, economic democracy, and common-owned lands. Developing many instances of local cooperation develops the larger system into a diverse, rich, creative, intelligent amalgamation that responds uniquely to each small region’s needs and challenges. When people everywhere feel a responsible, shared ownership for the world they live in, there will be fostered a sense of mindfulness of our impact on the quality of life and environment around us. As always, it’s up to us.