From Market Economy to Corporate Society

It has been said that the final stage of slavery is when you no longer realize that you are a slave. The East Europeans under communism never reached that stage. They understood full well how enslaved they were by their system of governance. But how many of us in so many countries now realize the extent to which we have become the slaves of our own economic structures? Do we recognize the extent to which our so-called market economies have become corporate societies, wherein business as usual has become hardly anything but business? When an economy of free enterprise becomes a society of free enterprises, it’s the citizens themselves who are no longer free.

As the Berlin Wall fell, it took with it much of the left side of the political spectrum of countries all over the world. Because the governments of Eastern Europe were discredited, people were persuaded to see all governments as discredited. This view has been especially prevalent where the population has long harbored suspicions about government. Suspicions are one thing; a collective misunderstanding of the role of government in a balanced society is quite another. Voters who thoughtlessly dismiss that role usually get the governments they deserve. (Articles of mine that elaborate on points in the text, such as this one, are listed in a section at the end of the references.)

It is telling that socialism has become a dirty word in America, leaving the impression that there is something wrong with things social, while capitalism has come to represent all things right. In fact, now we are seeing all kinds of proposals for adjectival capitalism—sustainable capitalism, caring capitalism, breakthrough capitalism, democratic capitalism, regenerative capitalism, inclusive capitalism. The implication is that, if only we can get capitalism right, all will be well again.

How did the word capitalism, coined to describe the creation and funding of private enterprises, themselves intended to supply us with commercial goods and services, come to represent the be-all and end-all of human existence? Is capitalism any way to run public services or judge their effectiveness, any way to understand the needs of education and health care, any way to organize our social lives and express our values as human beings? Capitalism was intended to serve us. Why are so many of us now serving it? Or as Pope Francis said recently, “Money must serve, not rule.”

In the United States in particular, the private sector now dominates society to such an extent that no established form of political activity is likely to dislodge it. The restoration of balance will thus require some form of renewal unprecedented in American history.