America and our Social Contract
"Opinion"09/06/2008
Paul Munnis
The worker becomes all the poorer the more wealth he produces, the more his production increases in power and range. The worker becomes an ever cheaper commodity the more commodities he creates. With the increasing value of the world of things proceeds in direct proportion to the devaluation of the world of men. Labour produces not only commodities; it produces itself and the worker as a commodity -- and does so in the proportion in which it produces commodities generally. -Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts (1844)
These words set off a revolution against Capitalism across Europe as the workers began a revolt against Capitalist greed and abuse of power.
Meanwhile in New York, politicians watched in horror as Socialist States formed, Communism flourished, and riots tore Europe apart. Those astute observers realized it was a coming attraction in the U.S .and would spread like prairie fire. So they sat down and rethought things. The realized that for wealth to build it would have to relinquish power or else they would lose it all. As the Carnegies, the Rockefeller’s, the Vanderbilt’s, and the Ford’s thought it through they could see the need for social reform.
What they came to realize was that Capitalism and Socialism were not destined to inevitable conflict but they were in fact complimentary forces and that if they could be harnessed it would produce the most powerful nation in the world.
Yes, the people owned our nation and its resources but to make wealth materialize then Capitalism is needed for capital formation and for job creation. They need each other.
Thus was born the “New Deal.” Essentially, government would act as the transfer agent granting license and rights to Capitalists who in turn would create jobs and profit. A middle class would be born and they would invest to help with capital formation through the purchase of stocks and bonds and the government would create labor laws assuring Labor a fair shake. A social contract was the result and it all worked out pretty good as Americans dominated word trade and workers formed Labor Unions. A social contract existed and it was honored.
In the meantime the Russians were determined to show the world that the Marxist/Leninist model of Socialism was superior. They formed a Communist State but in time it morphed into one where a few controlled all of the assets and the people owned nothing. They were subjugated by the military and imprisoned when they objected. The social contract was destroyed by Joseph Stalin as WWII ended. The material quality of Russian life declined and they entered into a Cold War with America that morphed into a nuclear stand-off of mutually assured destruction.
Ronald Regan used deficit spending to cause them to fall and Russia was forced to reinvent their society. That reinvention is in progress now but it is somewhat following the American model of the “New Deal,” even as former Party Bosses work the handles of national power. The Russian social contract is tenuous.
As Capitalism won and the Berlin Wall came down, nations threw out Socialism and went for a Conservative leaning government that would leverage Capitalism. In the U.S. the neo-cons formed, elected G.W. Bush and for the last eight years they have followed the Capitalist model as defined by Ronald Reagan. Deficit spending reins supreme, war is a way to build empire, and the U.S. Treasure is there to be raided while the laws are to be biased to favor Capitalism and workers lose all of their rights. The Social Contract was declared null and void as Regan destroyed Unions and disemboweled Labor before leaving office.
The result has been a rise in greed, the destruction of the middle-class, a lowering of the standard of living, a loss of trade, and a demand for a return to the “New Deal.”
As a nation we need to renew the social contract with one another and the choices are stark. The GOP wants the Reagan model to continue the Democrats want to resume the New Deal with its social contract for the people. Government is reflecting it with virtual gridlock in effect.
That is the point we are at as we enter the election box this November.
Vote wisely – vote well – vote in your enlightened self-interest. Vote Democrat.