Communitarian
Identification
of Flaws in Unrestricted Capitalism
(Carl
Cohen:
The history of capitalism is a history of slavery, child labor, war,
and
environmental pollution.)
1. The tragedy of the commons I: environmental degradation.
2. Profits maximized by economies of scale (big is better); the drive
to
monopolization (market freedom as, in the long run, self-defeating).
3. Exploitation of human needs (advertising as exciting baser drives;
commercialization of every dimension of life)
4. The inhumanity of markets
a. cycles of boom
and bust
b. unemployment
(endemic at all times; excessive in the
bust phase of a business cycle)
c. inflation
d. war (business as
war, literally as well as
figuratively)
e. occasional
insanity of markets: e.g., the Great
Depression
5.
The tragedy of the commons II: loss of co-operative opportunities (in
science,
art, exploration, education, etc.).
6. Unjust
distribution
of wealth
a. unlevel playing
field: questionable justice of
inheritance, etc.
b. unfair system of
distribution (labor as a commodity)
7.
Encouragement of
selfishness.
Alleged merits of
(unrestrained) capitalism:
1. Liberty
2. Efficient
allocation of resources (prosperity)
a. personal incentive
b. privileged
perspective
c. the efficiency of
demand
Mainstream
communitarian (i.e., socialist) recommendations:
1.
Unjust distribution of wealth rectified by social welfare programs,
inheritance
taxes, graduated income tax, etc., and programs such as public
education aimed
at equal opportunity
2.
Encouragement of selfishness mediated by co-operative programs
3.
The commons as a co-operative venture (in education, etc., as well as
in environmental
regulations: everyone comes out ahead)
4.
Monopolization prevented by anti-trust laws.
5.
Inhumanity of the market.
a. cycles of boom
and bust met by government stimulus
programs, regulation of the money supply
b. unemployment met
by unemployment insurance, job
training programs
c. inflation
corrected by regulation of the money
supply
d. pollution
controlled by government regulations
e. war checked by
fair business codes and international
law
f. harmful
advertising regulated or banned
6.
Insanity of the market (e.g. the Great Depression) mitigated by
activist government and central banks.
Liberty within the
limits
imposed by making possible the realization of other values, including,
in some
cases, greater liberty itself (e.g., the discipline of education).