Aamas 2004 blog

Posts Tagged ‘beyond’

This intelligent critique of America picks up on some serious problems. We’re a society in real trouble, less equal, less free, less masters of our own fate. Alperovitz notes correctly that we’re moving dangerously towards an oligarchy or plutocracy, and I agree with this sharp observation (echoed by excellent journalists like Bill Moyers.)

As I write this, after the recent election of a Democratic president, there’s a sense of relief that right-wing ideological policies of the past administration which have proven to be a huge disappointment are past us now, and there’s relief just to have a change. No doubt the United States will lean to the left in the next decade or so, and this is natural, and the fact that the nation oscillates every generation or so between a right-leaning agenda and a left-leaning agenda provides a healthy measure of protection for Americans. The two parties play against each other, and this long term competition between competing mindsets is one positive factor keep the United States from getting out of control.

My problems with Alperovitz’s prescription, however, is that he’s pulled tired ideas from the socialist bag of tricks. He likes worker-owned firms. He favors community-owned enterprises. He suggests municipalities should own businesses and real estate, and cites Boston’s Faneuil Hall as a case-study in successful management. While there may be some exceptions, I think there are few examples of workers successfully running a business firm. It’s not what they’re good at. These ideas deserve to be heard, of course, but I think the direction of the country shouldn’t be left or right but rather center. I think the whole idea of citizenship needs to be examined. Things that bother Alperovitz tend to bother most socialists, such as wealth inequality — he points out (along with writers like Kevin Phillips) that the richest one percent own half of all stocks, securities, trust equity, and business equity. This concentration of wealth is a
America Beyond Capitalism Reclaiming

Blackfire Beyond Warped Live