WHERE You Work Matters

I keep trying to tackle this issue about 'ownership' and the currently accepted structure of capitalism, but I am (apparently) much too abrasive. (I believe this because I find no allies and create enemies.)

I point out the specific hypocrisy and dependence that is currently the rage. I believe this leads people to believe I am attacking them personally, and they, of course, calm their fear by attacking me…

ESOP's are my obsession. Publx [www.publix.com] is one of my favorite examples and is the largest corporation based out of Florida. Every employee receives stock; the employees seem happier than at other grocery stores; they seem more involved, more concerned, with their tasks. I personally know an older guy who works at one nearby part-time and, after 5 years, he has $5000 in stock.

Yet, the average Joe on the street shows no preference in filling out applications. They show no preference in jobs. They will work at the grungy store next door for the same wage, minus the yearly stock benefits. People don't shop differently either. Shoppers don't seem to care if the profits go to their neighbor or to Dubai.

Also, I see "liberal" group after liberal group shouting the same thing as the conservatives; "Jobs, jobs, jobs." They do not seem to care that the sole purpose of a job is to create a profit for the owner. (Strike that, many [politicians] probably do realize that--but they are concerned about their ownership stake in GE, or Wal-Mart… and need more bodies to work for subsistence wages and create more profit for them, the owners …)

I often snap at posters online. I go through posts of right-wing talking points and rip at them … I create more enemies..

Anyway, I have a sick feeling that if Wal-Mart or GE or Raytheon or Credit Suisse offered to hire all the current 99% protesters, I see no evidence that they all wouldn't file off to to work to while away the rest of their lives creating a profit for their new owners. [And yes, I see it that drastically, that harshly. They would be 'owned,' they would be "human resources" no more valuable to the corporation than any other "resource," like a lump of coal or a piece of paper. And the owners would owe them nothing, other than the subsistence wage previously agreed to, and the 'human resources' can usually be fired at will, and if they get to uppity the owners will just close that factory, or office, and move it to India and buy some cheaper human resources …

The owners of an ESOP [like Publix] are also the employees, giving them an incentive to not close their own store. It also gives them an incentive to think long-term and not skip on maintenance or investments. It also keeps the profits in their community, benefiting the community. It also allows them to feel less alienated, more involved in determining their own future. And on, and on …

So, there's my thoughts for the day. I am currently in law school and have researched and thought about these concepts extensively, from start-up financing to products to marketing and promotion. But, alas, I have found few who are interested, and most run off to apply to Wal-mart or Koch Industries while simultaneously complaining about the influence the profits (those same human resources create for Wal-mart or Koch Industries) are applied by the owners in the political realm … as lobbying to change laws to benefit the owners and cripple the workers. That is how the profit the workers create is used, yet people are clamoring to work to create those profits for corporations. So that the corporate owners can then use it to harm the workers.

So you know my position--the workers need to "own the means of production." But the worker's revolution should be in their own minds and spirits. "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink." Right now, Americans don't seem to care where they work--but they should.

One final note: I spoke of Publix … which is a multi-billion dollar corporation, entirely owned by its employees. Americans should aim high. You don't need to be sole owner of a little used clothes shop, you can be part owner of a huge corporation… a corporate and a community leader. I am advocating evolution, not revolution. Eventually the workers will realize they are better off working at Publix rather than at Wal-mart. Eventually, greedy bastards like the Walton family will die off, and people like George Jenkins will rightfully be held in high regard.