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Economic Democracy and Global Crisis
Today, capitalism is faced with numerous challenges with the most important of them being issues of inequality. More importantly, the world exhibits unprecedented prosperity and also there is a dilemma on how to share public goods such as the environment. In-order to solve these inherent problems, institutions must take the populations beyond the capitalist economy (Schweickart, 1). Nevertheless, issues surrounding environmental pollution, poverty and inequality still continue to persist in the world today. As a consequence, there is need for an alternative means to take the world beyond capitalism and preserve the strengths of competitive capitalism while mitigating or eliminating its negative features. In-order to achieve this alternative, there is a great need to extend democracy to the economy. In other words, economies ought to democratize labor, capital and democracy.
Therefore, economic democracy or free market capitalism need to find its place in the global market. Economic democracy possesses certain features including competition among enterprises in-order to provide the consumers whatever they need. In addition, for a successful operation, companies will need to get access to the means of production including labor. The capacity of an individual to work is a commodity on its own and hence it can be bought and sold. Finally, economic democracy is characterized by private allocation of funds for investment. Private financial institutions source finances from those who have and lend to business for high profitability. Noteworthy, this is in contrast to capitalism where financial markets are like gods that need to be appeased.
The idea of commons came as a result of the need to counter capitalism. However, the commons have been attacked time after time but they still exist. As such, there are commons outside capitalism and they have played an important role in the class struggle. The 19th century mutual aid societies serve as an example of these commoners who have been able to feed the ideas of radicals and the bodies of other commoners (Caffentzis & Federici, 95). Noteworthy, more commoners are emerging all over the world today. Some common examples include solidarity economy movements and free software programs which have created a new social relations in the world based on the principle of communal sharing. Moreover, the ideas of the commons are sustained by the realization that capitalism does not have anything to offer apart from further divisions and more misery.
Furthermore, the initiatives by the commoners are more than creating protection against neo-liberals' assaults. Instead, they are more like the planted seeds or embryonic form of an alternative mode of production being made. The growing squatters' movements and the disconnection of the growing population of city dwellers from the formal world economy should also viewed in the same manner. Such group can, under the ideas of the commons, gain the capability of reproducing for themselves without the control of the market and the state. Nevertheless, the commoners have found a boost in their struggles with a new problem as indigenous Americans resist privatization of their land. In addition, the grassroots initiatives by women have played a special role in the quest to move away from capitalism (Caffentzis &Federici, 96). More importantly, commons is not only the means to share resources but also a commitment to foster common interest in every aspect of life.
The working portion of the world's population is faced with the greatest challenge coming from economic struggles. For instance, the economic crisis that faced the financial institutions in the United States in 2008 rapidly spread throughout the world causing massive industrial and financial disaster. In most countries in the world, banks failed and corporations went bankrupt leading to loss of jobs by millions of people. As a consequence, governments responded by pumping trillions into the financial sector to help the banks, stimulate their economies and to stabilize vulnerable corporations (Botz, 1). Noteworthy, those who are under employment are usually not prepared to face such uncertainties. Additionally, they lack independent organizations to fight for themselves and the whole society. Without a strong labor movement and powerful socialist organization, the working class would continue to suffer more.
Works Cited
Botz, Dan. The Global Crisis and the World Labor Movement. New Politics. 2009. newpol.org/content/global-crisis-and-world-labor-movement.Accessed on 21 August 2018
Caffentzis George &Federici, Silvia. Commons against and beyond Capitalism. Community Development Journal Vol 49 No S1 January 2014 pp. i92-i105. University of California. 2014. academic.oup.com/cdj/article abstract/49/suppl_1/i92/307214. Accessed on 21 August 2018
Schweickart, David. Economic Democracy. The Democracy Collaborative.
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