Comment 52310

By Undustrial (registered) - website | Posted November 27, 2010 at 18:16:48

First off, I'd miss A Smith if he wasn't around. He posits an unpopular position (around here), but he always does the work to source it and elaborate on it. I don't agree, but that's what makes this a discussion rather than a sermon.

Despite my affection for Marx, I'm actually quite a fan of free markets. And to echo Ryan's initial comments, I'm all in favour of small firms. I don't, however, think that investors should be privileged above workers, customers and the environment. It creates a system where wages, environmental considerations and product quality are all costs to be minimized in favour of management, advertising and interest on debts. When we pay people enormous amounts of money mainly because they have more money than us, all we're doing is continuing the cycle.

The only solution to these problems is employee ownership. Or to put it in a local context - North Hamilton is always going to be poor until the massively productive workplaces are owned in North Hamilton, not Ancaster, Toronto or Pittsburgh. Until factories are owned locally, decisions made will continue to show crass indifference for the communities in which they operate. And as long as industries are run by people trained to manage money with little specific knowledge of their field (ie: making steel), they're always going to make questionable decisions when it comes to on-the-ground operations.

"Today, the notion of progress in a single line without goal or limit seems perhaps the most parochial notion of a very parochial century." — Lewis Mumford

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