EL CAPITALISMO NEOLIBERAL y
PARASITARIO ES OBSOLETO
INTRODUCCIÓN por Hugo Adan , Nov 17, 2014
En la 1ra
parte of “Basic Concepts to Understand
our crisis” (http://nd-hugoadan.blogspot.com/2014/11/basic-concepts-to-understand-our-econ.html) indicamos que el sistema capitalista tiene 4 características:
(a) producción de bienes y servicios para el Mercado, (b) si y solo si eso rinde ganancias (acumulables y convertibles
en capital), lo que implica (c) reducir salarios y (d)
respetar las reglas de libre competencia
(lo que originalmente suponía prohibir los monopolios, regla jamás
respetada). Se trataba entonces de un sistema de explotación
(c) supuestamente basado en la libre competencia
(free market). Digo “Se trataba” porque hoy lo que predomina es un nuevo capitalismo
que mescla socialismo “welfarista” con empresas privadas reguladas por el Estado y donde se negocia el salario
entre la empresa y trabajadores sobre la bases de mínimos de Ley.
Indicamos también que si se considera la libre competencia como principal rasgo del sistema, tenemos 4 tipos
de capitalismo históricamente existentes:
(b) el capitalismo social-democrático,
asistencial o welfare capitalism, orientado a reducir la explosiva desigualdad que crea la “libre
competencia” mediante instituciones y políticas
de Estado (educación y salud gratuitas, seguro por desempleo y vejez, asistencia a derechos de la mujer y el niño y
apoyos para techo y comida) ;
(c) crony capitalism que asume como normal la diferencia
de riqueza y poder y como normal la relación
cliente-patrón heredada de tiempos feudales (clientelismo),
solo que ahora el cliente es la clase trabajadora que compra favores, bienes y servicios y el patrón es la clase empresarial que compra
votos, soborna ejecutivos y vende
favores a través de intermediarios (los lobistas). Se trata del capitalismo “de libre corrupción” donde aquellas compras
son “ilegales” pero realmente permitidas.
(d) capitalismo de Estado y/o
de mixed economy donde se admite el libre competencia
y libertad empresarial pero sin que afecte los “bienes comunes” de la nación (seguridad pública y
nacional, estándares básicos de educación y salud para todos, protección de
bienes colectivos como ambiente ecológico, agua y recursos naturales estratégicos).
Estos modelos combinan el capitalismo welfarista
con el Estado como gestor empresarial (Los SOEs o empresas de propiedad estatal)
y con empresas
mixtas donde el Estado y la inversión privada van de la mano. Esta
mescla es vista como fase transitoria hacia un nuevo capitalismo y/o hacia un
nuevo socialismo. Es lo que se practica en los paises nórdicos de Europa (Alemania,
Dinamarca, Finlandia, Islandia, Noruega y Suecia) y lo que se practica también en
Rusia y China (los paises donde predominan los SOEs). Ambos 2 modelos son la tendencia más prospera en términos económicos
en la actualidad.
Lo que
ahora haremos es discutir la propuesta de Adam Smith, llamado laissez-faire que aún sigue siendo motivo de
debate interno entre los partidarios de Ludwig von Mises y Friedrich von Hayek dentro del
capitalismo nórdico, (the Austrian Model) el más avanzado de Europa, de lo que
hablaremos en el próximo envío.
Philosophical base:
The utilitarian view of Bentham & J.S.Mill (indirectly from T.Hobbes,
D.Hume & J.Locke) on human existence. According to this view, individuals are
motivated by rational-self-interest, seeking pleasure and happiness and
avoiding pain & unhappiness, that was
the basic ideology of the emerging capitalism. This ideology lead the break of merchants
with the brutal medieval times of feudal lords and religious dogmas. When individuals
act in their own rational self-interest, the end will be a capitalist system in
which the greatest good for the largest number will be assured, Bentham
& Mill promised.
Adam Smith brought this false promise to the realm of economics.
Let the businessmen alone, was his suggestion, let them compete each other
savagely, let it do It, let the survival of the fittest prevail, take the State
hands out of them; at the end , this competition will assure goods and services
in abundance for everybody. At the end
all people will benefit from this abundance and they will pay the price
they are willing to pay, consumer sovereignty will prevail. That summarizes all principles and ideology
known in France and Scotland (Smith’s nation) as “laissez-faire”.
Smith of course thought that some public goods should be in
the hand of the State, like education, health, public and Nat security and
other public goods. Don’t let them in the hands of the new cannibals; let the
state take care of it, that was his message. Even though, when “laissez-faire” become the rule of the game, when the new-jungle know as capitalism was
set, they didn’t care for public education ..
The assumption was that the market alone can regulate themselves.
But it never happens, the unregulated market brought economic instabilities
that the managers of the system manage to cope with until the WWI explode. In
the aftermath of this war, the winners imposed they rule and the system was
untouched. Adam Smith’ unregulated market and his jungle rule known as “laissez-faire”-
got its final day in "The
depression of 1929 originated in the U.S. with a fall in stock market prices
that began in Sept 4, 1929, and became worldwide crisis with the stock market crash of October 29, 1929
(known as Black Tuesday). Visible signs of depression were: Personal
income, tax revenue, profits and prices dropped, while international
trade plunged by more than 50%. Unemployment in the U.S. rose to 25%, and in
some countries rose as high as 33%. For a brief description of what happens in
the U.S. at that time see a NOTE below.
The effects
of this capitalistic crisis probed that market self-regulation does not exist. During this crisis big corporation merge and get extra-profits. For common people the great depression' effects were worse that the effects of WWI.
The evilness of capitalist rulers came back, they learn that
wars can be converted into profitable business too.
Franklin D Roosevelt introduced the correction to the “free-market”
cannibalism with the New Deal and
the Glass-Steagal Act (GSA, 1933) though he didn’t do much- to spread the GSA to
the rest of the world. However, his ideas for a single World currency backed by
gold -the cornerstone in the Breton
Woods of 1944- was in that direction. In the aftermath of WWII Neo-imperialism
became rampant, war became a profitable business, the dollar became a fiat in
1971, and in the mid of the 1980, the
old rules of capitalist cannibalism known as “laissez-faire” was imposed back by
Reagan-Thatcher, this time at
international level.
We are now at the beginning of a new world recession and
instead of re-defining the Glass-Steagall of FDR. our leaders are thinking in
making business with a new war, the nuclear one. The evilness of capitalist
profiteers did not abandoned the
self-rational interest of Benathal and Mill. This time their followers won’t claim that nuclear war will bring the
greatest happiness and pleasure for all, not even for American-London bankers
and its multinational corporation. Nuclear war will not bring the greatest good
for the largest number, capitalism never did it and with nuclear war they will bring
just the opposite, the greatest destruction for all humanity. That is a brief
history of capitalism, a system that became obsolete and dangerous nowadays.
======
NOTE:
NOTE:
A brief description of what happens in the U.S. in 1929 is given by : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression
: life in cities dependent on heavy industry
were severely hit: building construction (part of big projects) stopped; construction
of equipment and the car industry also stopped, and the same happens to manufacturers
of aerospace
products and defense armaments. Farming and rural
areas suffered as crop prices fell by approximately 60%. Areas depending on primary sector industries such
as cash
cropping, mining
and logging
suffered the most. All of this happens because the demand felt due to few
alternative sources of jobs. In fact, economic recession preceded the great
depression (inflation and deflation plus the injection of liquidity (printing
money: QES) creates economic bubbles and volatility typical of capitalist
systems. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depression_%28economics%29 and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_the_Great_Depression
In
some places the negative effects of the Great Depression lasted until after the
end of World War II.
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