Anti-Neoliberal-Capitalist Screed number 737

Proponents of capitalism and free market trade will insist that their economic philosophies are the most logical, and the best way to promote fairness and innovation. They’ll say that capitalism propagates greater freedom and expanded choice, and that the open market fosters competition, thus empowering consumers to decide the superior product. In the systems’ barest forms, there is some truth in that. However, whatever theoretical advantages there may be are overridden by how horribly flawed they’ve been employed in practice. Corporations have grown so large and unwieldy, so powerful that, in many or most cases, quality matters less than brand recognition, and the ability of executives and lobbyists to buy consumers supersedes the prerogative of consumers choosing to buy a product.

Unchecked monopolization across industries has similarly ensured that there is no choice. When you need something, and have only one source from whom you can get it, that source has little incentive, and no obligation, to provide a product commensurate to the expense. If your shitty service is the only one available, it’s easy to take customers for granted and profit greatly.

You know about the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX crashes. Boeing, in the interest of profit, sold unsafe planes with faulty engineering and software. They were able to do this, in part, because the company is essentially in control of the FAA. A private company used their power over a public agency to make money, and hundreds of people died.

Utilities particularly should and must be community owned and operated. This is a perfect example of where capitalism, privatization, neoliberal economic policies converge to completely fuck people over. Industries in which the whole premise of such practices promoting competition and higher quality product completely falls apart. Before water comes through your tap, do you make a choice of which provider is pumping that water? Not unless you own your own well, or live in an imaginary land where different companies advertise to you with competitive prices for varying quality of water. Chances are, and it’s more than a chance, that a corporation owns and controls the water piped into your home, and that of every other person in your town, city, county. No competition, no choice. Then there are the bottled water companies, bane of our existence, and all life, that take the water which should belong to all people, and package and sell it to those same people for a huge markup.

Here in California, we have PG&E, Pacific Gas & Electricity, a private company managing all the infrastructure and distribution of energy for the state. What qualifies them for such responsibility? Do they provide high quality service? Have they proven themselves admirable and trustworthy stewards?

Nothing, no, and fuck no.

Apart from taking too long to repair downed power lines, and leaving potholes from mediocre maintenance work all over the place, there is strong evidence (near proof and outright admission) that PG&E has been at fault for sparking major wildfires in the state. The company has been threatening to declare bankruptcy to avoid paying anything in the event of lawsuits.

We’re stuck with a company that does a poor job generally, occasionally causes devastating harm, loss of life, and property destruction, and which seems virtually unaccountable.

And, if they charge too much, if their poor service carries on too long, if they cause half the coast to go up in smoke, is it possible for a consumer to get their electricity and gas elsewhere? Nope. You’re stuck. You take the shit service and pay whatever’s demanded. Forget competition, where is the freedom in that?

Water, electricity, gas, these industries should not be under the ownership and operation of private companies. Public resources should be publicly owned and managed.

While I concede there is incompetence, mismanagement and corruption in government, can anyone claim that is not true of corporations many times over? If a resource and service is government run, there is at least the notion of accountability.

The adage goes, that in business, consumers vote with their dollars. Better that we use our literal votes to manage what rightfully belongs to us.