In comes the citizen approach
Christopher Vincenzi discovers a new way of living
Beyond the Profits System: Possibilities for a Post-Capitalist Era by Harry Shutt. Zed Books. ISBN 978-184813-417-1. £12.99. How are we to get through the current global financial and economic crisis? Harry Shutt, who saw the storm clouds approaching several years ago, offers some radical solutions to the problems with which world leaders are still struggling. Harry has worked as an economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit, and as a consultant to the governments of a number of developing countries. He believes that world governments have wilfully ignored the long-term and systemic causes and, are, consequently, unable to see a way out of the morass. Since 1974, when the post-war boom came to an end, western countries have sought to promote economic growth by a process of deregulation, privatisation and the liberalisation of markets. Not only has this produced little actual growth, but great damage has been done to the credibility of our system of government.
Traditional capital investment produced diminishing returns, and, consequently, more and more capital has been invested in a host of new types of speculative venture. New, impenetrable financial products at first delivered immense gains to investors but, more recently, they have suffered spectacular losses. Private businesses had to be bailed out by public funds. The capitalist profits system can now only be sustained by an increasing reliance on misinformation, massive criminal fraud and the ever-greater dependence of private corporations on state subsidy.
The maximisation of economic growth has long been seen as the supreme good in the economic sphere. A blind pursuit of growth has resulted in so many negative consequences, including environmental damage, the acceleration of global warming and the destruction of the economies of many small developing states, so that they are now wholly dependant on aid and have, effectively, lost their political autonomy. The competitiveness that is regarded as essential to a growing economy engenders insecurity and inequality. Even during the modest periods of growth, there has been little real increase in employment. The jobs that are created are often dull, repetitive and unsatisfying. Current attempts by governments to revive growth and the profits system don’t begin to address root problems and are very likely to fail.
Harry thinks that we should adopt a more rational ideology, in which a spirit of mutual cooperation and solidarity replaces the Darwinian competitiveness that is inherent in market capitalism. In such a society, work would not be available for all, but all would have a Citizen’s Income, sufficient to meet basic needs. Working, in the sense of having, or seeking a job, should no longer be seen as an essential precondition of the right to exist in a human society. Individuals could engage in creativity in the broadest sense, covering not merely the arts and sciences, but sport and other recreational activities. The dream of William Morris might be fulfilled that ‘one day we shall win back Art… to our daily labour’. Although these aspirations will strike a chord among many Friends, they must seem remote from realisation. How do we get from here to there without violent social upheaval? We may already be moving in the right direction. A growing number of younger people are looking at alternative lifestyles and activities, recognising, perhaps, that having a career in the traditional sense is no longer available to them. But to enable our economy and our current political structure to change to meet the new realities of a non-profits system, a number of measures would be needed to initiate the process, such as restrictions on the movements of capital and limitations on the powers of wealthy organisations to distort the expression of opinion and to suborn the democratic process. It will be difficult to get widespread political support for these changes, but this book argues powerfully that carrying on as we have been is no longer an option.
