No.9｜Flaws in the wish-fulfillment machine called capitalism(Part1)

This article is a translation of this article.

The principle of capitalism is a system that discovers needs that others are willing to pay for, responds to them, and receives compensation for its labor. As a result of the advancement of technology by capitalists and workers competing with each other to provide "better, cheaper, faster" services, we have built a materially rich society.

While this free economy has fulfilled many people's wishes, it has also exposed serious flaws. It is a flaw that the competition is never ending and no one can stop it. Like a runaway train, it is constantly fulfilling people's wishes, heterogeneously transforming the meaning of work and leading society in a strange direction. It is important to understand the present and predict the future. Let's take it step by step.

In a capitalist society, the wealth brought by capital is preferentially distributed to capitalists. As a result, workers without capital are forced to work for a living and left in the vortex of competition.. Given this basic premise, the work transitioned as follows.

①The work to be done has a priority. Those with high need, high benefit, easy challenges, and low risk are tackled first. (Because it is the most cost-effective.)

②Cost competition always acts to reduce labor costs. It promotes the development of technology, allowing fewer people to do the same job (i.e., labor saving).

③Those who are forced out of their traditional jobs by labor saving create new jobs for life. Work transitions to less necessary, less profitable, more difficult, and more risky. As the need for services declines, sales begin to depend less on the quality of the service itself and more on how well the advertising arouses the desire of the customer.

④As simple tasks are completed, advanced skills are required, and the acquisition of these skills takes many years and costs. On the other hand, those who do not have a highly specialized job are caught in the fierce competition for the post, and find themselves working in monotonous, simple, or harsh environments.

⑤The development of technology accelerates the speed of development. This speeds up the catching up of the following firms, shortens the life span of their service and technology advantages, and decreases the return on investment. Many products will become commoditized and products will be characterized by brands and advertising. Coupled with the development of information technology, there will be greater intervention by sellers in the customers' thinking.

⑥Competition becomes even more severe. Internal pressure to resort to unfair means to stay ahead of the competition increases. (e.g., disguise of origin, inspection irregularities, improper accounting practices, illegal dumping, and misreporting of working hours).

Let's look at it in more detail.

Per capita productivity has increased enormously in comparison to the past. If only traditional work were done, the hours per person would be considerably less. However, in capitalist society, the wealth created by capital is not distributed fairly and workers are always forced to work for their living.

To survive in the competition, you must increase your productivity. On the other hand, increased productivity leads to labor savings, reducing the total number of posts and making competition more severe. We are fighting with ourselves in the mirror.

Productivity gains are taking away good posts. The work becomes more difficult and drives workers to acquire higher skills in search of better-paying jobs. Students are encouraged to take the risk of pursuing higher education, and the percentage of students going on to higher education is increasing each year, and the total amount of interest-bearing scholarships is also on the rise. The competition to get into a good university to get into a good company, high school to get into a good university, middle school, and elementary school... gets fiercer each year, leading to an increase in the cost of education.

On the other hand, technological development also increases the speed at which the following firms catch up, shortening the period of technological superiority and decreasing business profits. Knowledge learned in college quickly becomes obsolete or passes out of fashion and must be constantly relearned. The cost of learning increases, but the return gradually decreases and the profit margin decreases.

The decline in profits due to intense competition encourages entry into riskier businesses. To be ahead of others, speed of decision making is required even when information is lacking. Also, the decline in the number of favorable investments drives investors to riskier investments. And deteriorating working conditions increase the incentive to pursue higher education, even at the cost of debt, as mentioned earlier.

Labor that does not require a high degree of specialization will be caught in the race for lower wages due to labor shortages. Monotonous, simple, or 3K (hard, dirty, or dangerous) work, yet the increasing number of job seekers suppresses wages to an inconvenient level and simple work makes it harder to improve skills and hinders career advancement. It is also treated as an employment adjustment valve for the ups and downs of the economy, resulting in unstable employment.

(As an example, essential workers, whose jobs are essential to supporting society, such as health care workers, government workers, cleaning staff, child care workers, transporters, and supermarket and drug store clerks, are exposed to the risk of corona infection and yet remain poorly paid. Wages may be determined on unfair terms, especially due to economic deprivation.)

It is not easy to create work once you are filled with the things you need. The reason is that the things we naturally want are the first to be developed. Sellers will have to actively convince customers that they "want" the product. The quality of advertising differentiates products and creates new jobs by arousing the desires of customers. In this case, more effort is spent on advertising than on quality of service, and customers are constantly stimulated by their desires. Society is flooded with advertisements, appealing to more convenience, more comfort, and more fun. The ad cleverly ... And it is powerfully imprinted on the customer's consciousness.

Excessive competition also increases the pressure for people to resort to unfair means. This is because there is no way to survive if you are forced to compete at the edge. It drives them to engage in unethical, if not illegal, behavior, such as tax avoidance, that gets them through the legal net. Even if they know it is bad for the environment, they will continue to do so until it is regulated.

Capitalism continues to fulfill people's wishes even as it causes various problems as described above. The desire to maintain the system is continually aroused, whether it is a truly necessary service or not. Workers are constantly being forced to compete, to create new jobs, and to create new desires. You are constantly fighting the fear of being replaced, and even if you don't find the work rewarding, you have no choice but to move on.

The fundamental driving force behind capitalism's decision to put workers in competition is the desire to make more money. That inexhaustible desire has built a society of mass production and mass consumption, wasting resources, widening disparities, and destroying the environment. The wish-fulfillment machine called capitalism showed some function in keeping people's wishes efficiently fulfilled and rewarding those who performed well, but it did not work perfectly. The desires of the wealthy have been prioritized, and the wishes of the have-nots have been relatively neglected. Desires are implanted from elsewhere, and obedience to them is justified, and their runaway behavior knows no bounds.

(Continued in Part II)