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Union "demands" were reasonable. Actually, they weren't really demands at all, since they were being asked to take a cut in not only pay and claims, but also their share of the overall pie (by corollary, increasing the share of those who caused and profited off the disaster in the first place). Unions have always been pretty dirty entities, but it's indisputably true that for generations they ensured living wages and the overall health of the capitalist system, by putting money in consumers' pockets.
Anyway, I have come to the same basic conclusion as Jubber. Greed is an inevitable element of the human character, and while it is not a good thing and should not be encouraged, it should be worked to everyone's advantage. And I also agree with Jubber's belief that the capitalist system is failing because it rewards short-term gains over long-term planning...and there is no way to fix this without some sort of active intervention (i.e., regulation).
The question is, how?
I do agree with Jubber that businesses managed by a single founder, or by a family, tend to be more responsible and more high-minded than impersonal conglomerates that exist only to cash out. And I also do agree with the basic premise of local government, that basically uneducated people of reasonably normal intelligence can make good decisions about things that are well-known to them from daily life.
Most early 20th century democratic socialists believed that capitalism was doomed and that rather than trying to overthrow it violently and revert to a state monopoly of all property, it would be wiser to gradually phase it out and convert to a mixed economy. Because of the rise of extremist movements, two world wars and American hegemony, it didn't turn out that way, but the basic dilemma, how to make a place for everyone in this modern world, remains unanswered.
I agree with the more traditional view. My belief is that the strategy should be to gradually turn mature, privately held firms into co-ops, and increase accountability.
Specific ideas:
(it should be understood these suggestions apply exclusively to corporations and not privately held firms; the idea being that choosing to incorporate should be a definite trade-off, with many onerous burdens, instead of a "never go to jail" card)
-Mandate a fixed ratio of cash and equity in compensation for all employees of all firms, and stipulate stock options for all employees, maturing at fixed points in tenure. Over the long term, this would dilute existing holdings and gradually convert all firms to employee-controlled co-ops.
-Create a sort of "commission" system for corporate officers: responsibility for a business policy or decision rests with commissioned personnel (i.e., elected board members, per company charter), and only such individuals have the authority to implement policy. Any business policy or statement must be authorized by a stamp from such individual, and are considered sworn statements, so any mistruth or illegal policy is perjury and fraud. Make it illegal to pay people to do, or for employees to do without being paid, anything that isn't authorized in such a way (i.e., "anything that is not forbidden is compulsory").
-Allow retroactive clawbacks of personal funds and assets against former management who committed abuses.
-Change legal procedure such that responsibility for malfeasance now flows bottom-up, even if superiors at the top claim they didn't know what their subordinates were doing. The assumption being, either they did know, in which case they were guilty, and deserve to be punished, or they didn't know, in which case they were incompetent, and deserve to be punished. After all, that's why they get paid the big bucks.
-Incorporated business entities must observe FOIA, according to the logic that they are incorporated only because the state recognizes that status, therefore, they are de facto public entities and should be treated as such, without any right to privacy or secrecy.
-Ban political donations, instead apportioning campaign funds based on a popular quorum, and mandating that media firms recognized by the FCC must provide a fixed amount of airtime to any qualifying candidate.
-Convert the legal system to a GDKP system and bind legal licenses to that system (breaking the power of corporate lawyers and class action abusers).
-Eliminate non-profit tax status and make charitable donations no longer tax deductible. While I do realize this will hurt some legitimately good causes, my extensive experience with non-profits leads me to firmly believe that non-profits and charitable donations do a great deal of harm and very little good.
-Cut income taxes and massively increase capital gains and land taxes, and make them scale very steeply. Capital gains tax scaling should be so steep that it is possible to actually have a tax rate of 99% on very large gains. This will discourage liquidations and churn-and-burn investment.
-Similarly, land taxes should scale dramatically, encouraging the breakup of large holdings and build-up rather than sprawl. Increase the base tax on land, and make improvements tax-deductible via tax bond vouchers paid off against future profits.
For example, if you own a donut factory, and buy a new mixer, instead of getting an immediate write-off, you could apply for a voucher, then turn in voucher tickets for the life of the mixer, writing off its cost against the profits it makes. This would be exclusive towards improvements made and bought here in the States.
How does that sound to you, Jubber? Or anyone?
Aestu of Bleeding Hollow... Nihilism is a copout.
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