[mobglob-discuss] Capital's Logic, People Resisting

[Gordon Flett]

Capital's Logic, People Resisting by Yves Engler May 30, 2003
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=13&ItemID=3701 


There were demonstrations of 600,000 people in Paris and 90,000 in
Germany this past Sunday. Strikes have paralyzed both France and Austria
recently. 

In Peru on Tuesday President Alejandro Toledo declared a 30-day state of
emergency and sent troops into the streets to end strikes by teachers
and many others. 

What is happening? On the surface, the issues are pretty
straightforward. In France the main issues are change to retirement
benefits. Currently, public workers are able to retire after a 37.5-year
contribution period, which the government wants to increase to 40 years.
Germans unions are mad at Social Democrat Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's
plan to cap unemployment benefits at 12 months for those under 55 and 18
months for those over 55. The proposal is also to make it easier for
small firms to hire and fire new workers. The issues are similar in
Austria. In Peru, teachers are demanding a wage increase of $60 to $260
(US) per month, which they claim is barely a living wage. Farmers want
lower taxes on equipment. Underlying the strikes and demonstrations,
however, is a more fundamental question. What is the point of an
economy? 

While the answer may seem obvious enough - to provide people with decent
lives - capitalism often confuses the matter by claiming its interests
and the role of the economy are the same. 

Take the U.S. medical system as an example. The U.S. spends by far the
most money on health care of any country in the world, about 14% of
gross domestic product. The next closest country spends just over 10
percent. 
(www.pslgroup.com) Not only do Americans allocate a larger percentage of
GDP to health care, they spend more in absolute dollars. Americans pay
$4,637 on average for health coverage while Canadians, the fourth
biggest spenders, shell out $2,200 (US) (Globe and Mail). This is good
for segments of the economy. Pharmaceutical companies are making big
bucks, U.S. doctors are some of the highest paid, fancy new technologies
are being sold that purportedly do miraculous things, the hospitals are
getting their cut and the insurance companies keep raising their costs,
so surely all is swell. 

Not really. According to the N.Y Times there are "60 million uninsured
during a year (May 13)" Don't despair, however, since according to the
Financial Times at least "the system is world-class 
(May 24)" for those with employer paid insurance. But is it? 

American life expectancy is only the 17th highest in the world 
(www.eagle-min.com). More importantly a World Health Organization study
that counted years of good health showed that the U.S. ranked even lower
by that measure. "The United States rated 24th under the system, or an
average of 70.0 years of healthy life for babies born in 1999."
Christopher Murray, a director from WHO summarized the findings;
"Basically, you die earlier and spend more time disabled if you're an
American rather than a member of most other advanced countries."
(www.who.com) This doesn't sound "world class" and it isn't. Unless we
define "world class" as the degree to which the system is controlled by
private interests. 

No other industrialized country has a medical system with a greater
for-profit orientation. And capital is happy, so why let early death
dampen the mood. 

To be fair to the U.S. medical establishment, lower American life
expectancy is not solely the result of its absurd profit orientation.
Nor is the medical sector the only one where the economy has lost its
way in serving ordinary people. 

For instance, one of the reasons for the shorter American life
expectancy is the degree to which Americans work. Even though new time
saving devices have been invented and production capabilities are
expanding, Americans are still working longer. As a result of the
weakening of the organized U.S. working class, Americans are now working
200 hours more than they did in the early 1970s (NY Times April 12).
This is taking place while in Europe people are working less. The
average Norwegian now works 29 percent less than the average American -
a total of 14 weeks per year less. In the past two decades the
percentage of Americans over 65 who are still working has increased by
close to 50% (La Presse) Because of a 1983 Congressional decision, by
2027 the American retirement age will officially increase to 
67. This is not just happening in the U.S. The extremely pro-business
Tory government in Ontario, Canada's largest province, decided to
increase the province's workweek so workers could work 60 hours in a
given week and not receive a dime in overtime pay. 

According to the N.Y. Times, "the harmful effects of working more hours
are being felt in many areas of society. Stress is a leading cause of
heart disease and weakened immune system." (April 12) It's unhealthy to
work so much but also why would we bother? Technological advances should
lead to more leisure, not less. But somehow the mainstream press seems
to miss that point. 

The overwhelming dominance of "capitalist logic" is such that all too
often the ills of our world are explained through the lens of what is
good for a tiny minority of our population. For instance, according to a
recent National Post article "productivity losses due to depression,
anxiety, substance abuse and burnout run at about $33-billion a year in
Canada (May 
14)" Or how about those World Bank officials who complain about the
devastating impact AIDS is having on African economies. Productivity
losses? Impact on economies? Isn't depression damaging people's lives
and aren't African children growing up without parents? But capitalism
has its own logic and according to it everything that can be, should be
explained in economic terms. And if it can't be explained in economic
terms than surely it isn't really important. What regular people care
about is all too often irrelevant. 

Nevertheless, people do care. That is why a few days ago 7,000 East
German steel workers voted to strike for a 35-hour workweek. Currently
they work 
38 hours, which gives them three hours less leisure than their West
German counterparts and unemployment is high in their region so they
hope a reduced workweek will help create jobs. 

In France, hundreds of thousand of people care enough to hit the streets
to say 37.5 years of work is enough. In Peru, millions care enough to
demand a living wage. These people are acting in the self-interest of
their communities, which is not the same as the self-interest of
capital. They are acting sensibly, and should be supported if one
considers the economy as an instrument for the community of all people.