THERE ARE NO RICH PEOPLE IN THE WORLD

THERE ARE NO RICH PEOPLE IN THE WORLD There are no rich people in the world, and there are no poor people. There are just people. The rich may have lots of pieces of green paper that many pretend are worth something or their presumed riches may be even more abstract: numbers on hard drives at banks and the poor may not. These rich claim they own land, and the poor are often denied the right to make that same claim. A primary purpose of the police is to enforce the delusions of those with lots of pieces of green paper. Those without the green paper generally buy into these delusions almost as quickly and completely as those with. These delusions carry with them extreme consequences in the real world. --Derrick Jensen, Endgame, p. 196 Defining Economy The Economy as Social Institution The social institution that governs the management, production, and distribution of human material resources (goods, services, raw materials, and the things we need for survival). What for? What should an economy do? Capitalism Ideal Types of Economic Systems: A way of organizing economic life based on: Private ownership of productive property Profit as incentive Competition between actors in free markets Prices are driven by supply and demand Relationship between employer and employee is based on surplus value 1

Socialism Mixed Economies An economic system in which the raw materials and the means of producing and distributing goods and services are collectively owned Based on the belief that everyone should share equally in the goods and services produced by society Economies that combine features of capitalist and socialist systems, including both the public and private ownership of property and limits on free-market competition "To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you aren't allowed to criticize" -- Voltaire (1694-1778) In a relatively free society, in which control is based on ideological hegemony, we might say, "To learn what rules over you, simply find out what you are highly discouraged (threatened with severe social ostracism) from criticizing." We re going to deconstruct and criticize capitalism We all already know many of the benefits of capitalism, right? just a little bit 2

Ideology and the Culture of Capitalism Capitalism as a Constructed Reality: Naturalizes a social construct Economic rules are understood as the way it is Would be the same under any other economic model Myths are reinforced as reality E.g. Free Markets (there s no such thing) Facilitates social control (through consent) Again, same for other economic models Wealth is evidence of success, poverty is a sign of failure to achieve Implications of Naturalized Capitalism: Market values trump human values E.g. Tobacco companies, vacant houses, etc. Produces quiescent workers Quiescent = at rest, someone who is docile, not agitated Public goods become private property E.g. Enclosure movement, privatization of water, healthcare, etc. Structural problems treated as personal issues E.g. Poverty, unemployment, etc. Alternative economic arrangements are not even considered E.g. Obama s healthcare reform debate Some Dilemmas of Capitalism Kyoto Protocol Some Dilemmas of Capitalism 3

Some Dilemmas of Capitalism Nike factory in Vietnam Some Dilemmas of Capitalism Public health vs. private profit The U.S. spends more on healthcare than any other country but not with better health outcomes 4

Dilemmas of Capitalism Public health vs. private profit Intellectual property vs. art and science Dilemmas of Capitalism Public health vs. private profit Intellectual property vs. art and science Trees vs. jobs Dilemmas of Capitalism Public health vs. private profit Intellectual property vs. art and science Trees vs. jobs Climate change vs. economic growth 5

Inequality is an inevitable consequence of capitalism. Predicted impacts have materialized But the level of inequality we are willing to tolerate is up to us. We are currently experiencing nearly the highest rates of inequality since 1929. Inequality and Life Chances Working class and poor people are: Less likely to go to college More likely to get arrested, convicted, go to prison, and receive the death penalty than upper class people More likely to die prematurely Our economy was worth, roughly, $124 trillion (assets minus debts) in the first quarter of 2014 Which was split between, roughly, 319 million people (again, in 2014) Our country s wealth split evenly would ve given everyone, roughly, $388,715. 6

from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [An] OECD report finds that the richest 10 percent of American households earns about 28 percent of the overall income pie. This is a lot, but it's roughly consistent with what you see in the world's other rich countries. By contrast, the wealthiest 10 percent of U.S. households have captured a whopping 76 percent of all the wealth in America. And that number is considerably higher than in other rich nations, as the chart below shows. --Washington Post, May, 2015 Brookings Institute Report https://www.brookings.edu/blog/social-mobility-memos/2015/01/30/wealth-inheritance-and-social-mobility/ From 2009-2012, 91% of all new income went to the top 1% Data from Emmanuel Saez http://eml.berkeley.edu/~saez/saez-ustopincomes-2013.pdf Forbes 400 Richest Americans Have a combined net worth of over $2.7 tril. Bill Gates = $90.5 billion Jeff Bezos (Amazon CEO) = $117.7 billion All 400 are billionaires ($2 $89 bil.) (as of 2017) About 30 % inherited their wealth (as of 2016) 7

An estimated 35 to 45 percent of wealth is inherited Brookings Institute Report https://www.brookings.edu/blog/social-mobility-memos/2015/01/30/wealth-inheritance-and-social-mobility/ Should inheriting wealth be allowed? If you think domestic inequality is shocking, how about global inequality? The richest 1% of people around the world own more wealth than the rest of the world combined. And 6 men own as much wealth as the poorer half of the world s population 3.6 billion people. --Oxfam, (June?), 2017 The world s 6 richest people are, in order of net worth (2018): 1. Jeff Bezos: American founder, chairman and chief executive of Amazon (net worth: $117.7 billion) 2. Bill Gates: America founder of Microsoft (net worth $90.5 billion) 3. Warren Buffett: American CEO and largest shareholder in Berkshire Hathaway (net worth $85.1 billion) 4. Carlos Slim Helu: Mexican owner of Grupo Carso (net worth: $71.4 billion) 5. Amancio Ortega: Spanish founder of Inditex which owns the Zara fashion chain (net worth $69.5 billion) 6. Mark Zuckerberg: American chairman, chief executive officer, and co-founder of Facebook (net worth $64.1 billion) 8

Questions for us to consider: Is a capitalist economy compatible with a democratic society? and How should we structure our economy if we wish to truly achieve democracy, freedom, and equality? 9