the capitalist economy as an army

[joft]

communist workers have been characterized as soldiers (consider, in pop. culture, the movie Antz), but i think this process is actually playing out in the more capitalist economies. the difference is that instead of being soldiers of the state, they're soldiers of the corporations/stockholders. and it's catalyzed by the cultural mores of capitalist societies: (it is the duty of every citizen of working age to be productive; free-riders are especially heavily demonized in general, and mitigating circumstances downplayed. it is the duty of firms to maximize profits and behave in the "free market" fashion, and this is supposedly good for everyone because "societal surplus" is maximized too)

observe the minimum wage worker (Private First Class?), most likely already under tight supervision and held to ridiculous codes of conduct, in uniform according to the dress code, distinction rubbed out, individuality squashed, subject to "disciplinary action", etc. and the managers/supervisors/(drill instructors/commanders?), the inaccessible higher-ups (politicians?, CEO, commander in chief?)

i know the comparison is a stretch currently, but doesn't it seem like that's the direction we're moving in? you have locally stationed troops, taking orders/directives from a command center, enforced by the officers and executed by the front line, using Standard Issue everything, but somewhat less likely to be killed.

maybe what i'm getting at isn't quite a parallel between business and military, but at least one shared attribute of them both; in this case, depersonalization

i'm taking microeconomics this semester and after seeing all the theoretical justifications for capitalism it strikes me as not as philosophically different from socialism as it is made out to be, in the sense that they are both exceedingly, unjustifiably (imo) idealistic.

[joft]

mbti connnection: P's are drafted into the economy and J's volunteer willingly

[omnirook]

Well, perhaps finally somebody has spotted what has been obvious to me since I was a child - it's just that you've yet to crystallize it into a simple statement. Let me help you: the differences between human societies of all types are superficial; elementally and fundamentally, they all achieve the same result: a hierarchy that operates to use the vast majority to support a small minority in outrageous luxury. In a capitalistic society, the "outrageous luxury" is manifested in "conspicuous consumption" of flashy possessions; in a communistic society, the "outrageous luxury" is manifested in "party members only" distribution of a few commodities and access to otherwise forbidden items. The net result is the same. It does not matter whether the "luxury" is a fur coat or a tin of coffee.

An excellent delineation of the process is the novel "King Rat" by James Clavell. In it, Clavell gets at the heart of the mechanism and goes into detail about the how's of setting up a society, even if that society is in a Japanese prison camp where the privations are so severe that a mark of luxury, of being one of the "kings," is getting to eat one egg per month or occasionally having one machine made tobacco cigarette, versus one that was hand-rolled w/a strip of old newspaper as the wrapper and used tea leaves as the "tobacco." The haves, the have-nots, the workers, the paid bullies (the police), the crooked administrators who would sell-out their own mothers for a crumb of cheese - all covered - it's the best delineation of the hypocrisy that makes human society possible that I've ever come across. I highly recommend it.