can Ralph Nader save capitalism? ( was Re: Fast Track Passage)

Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com
Tue Aug 6 12:47:27 PDT 2002


Eric Beck wrote:


>But Doug, just in the last month he's written blistering
>analyses like these:
>"Citigroup, Heal Thyself"
><http://www.counterpunch.org/nader0727.html>
>"Corporate Socialism: The CEO Crimewave"
><http://www.counterpunch.org/nader0718.html>
>"The Secret World of Banking"
><http://www.counterpunch.org/nader0715.html>
>
>And how do you read this paragraph without making a mad dash
>for the barricades?
>
>>"Corporate socialism" -- the privatization of profit and the
>>socialization of risks and misconduct -- is displacing
>>capitalist canons. This condition prevents an adaptable
>>capitalism, served by equal justice under law, from delivering
>>higher standards of living and enlarging its absorptive
>>capacity for broader community and environmental values. Civic
>>and political movements must call for a decent separation of
> >corporation and state.

This is Ralph in a nutshell: the problem isn't the rule of capital, it's that we don't have enough business failures and competition! What the hell is this "adaptable capitalism" he's talking about anyway? Social democracy? Social democracy fits more comfortably with large businesses and restricted competition than Ralph's petit bourgeois utopia.

But you were being ironic about the barricades, right?

Doug



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list