[kj] Killing joke and Communism

[B. Oliver Sheppard]

Employees have a constant risk in their employer; they take a risk in 
assuming he is competent to manage the business right. If he doesn't, 
the business fails. That is a risk workers take. When big business takes 
risk, they often want to be bailed out -- see current mortgage/housing 
crisis. But -- isn't risk-taking the manly-man thing under capitalism? 
you know, take the risk, if it doesn't pay off, it doesn't pay off? 
that's not the way really-existing businesses like it to be. Except for 
the poor -- they need the market discipline, etc. Themselves, they'd 
never refuse a good old fashioned bail out.

Survival instincts are many -- they often include collaboration (a 
corporation is supposed to be a collaborative effort, you know -- 
teamwork pep rallies and all that right? Rah rah go corpo-team! If this 
were behavior in any organization besdes a corporations, it might be 
called cult-like -- in fact the book _Corporate Cults_ does a great job 
of comparing corporations and their practices to those of cults), 
collective pooling of resources (what many mutual funds are based on, 
and indeed that's what medical insurance is in the US: when you join an 
insurance plan you are basically agreeing to subsidize members of that 
insurance plan who need the care more than you, etc.)

Only capitalism is still enough self-destructive as a system that it 
does indeed require constant government oversight, regulations, 
investigations and the like. The idea that they should be allowed to all 
just police themselves, and we'll take them on their good word for it -- 
that's just laughable. especially post-Enron, etc., but even before.

-Oliver



>     ========================================

>     Message Received: Aug 23 2007, 01:08 AM

>     From: "GREG SLAWSON"

>     To: ssssssssss at fsmail.net

>     Cc:

>     Subject: RE: [kj] Killing joke and Communism

>

>     How about paying people (CEOs) who do no work (well, ok, they go

>     to meetings) hundreds of times what the people who actually do the

>     work make...oh, right, they "take the risks" so they deserve it.

>     Capitalist logic cracks me up. And, try finding any scientific

>     evidence about a 'human survival instinct' that has anything to do

>     w/capitalist behavior and I'll join the Libertain Party!

>