Martin Wolf has a new book coming out . . .
. . . called The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism, and he was interviewed by Rob Johnson on the Economics & Beyond podcast. Here’s a quote from 50:20 in the pod (my transcription, done before I saw the official transcript at the link):
Now a core thesis of my book . . . is that If you want a capitalist order, and if you want democracy . . . then you must accept that the free market will have to be contained within and tempered by an active state which provides fundamental security to all its citizens because it’s something they’re all going to demand . . . and that where fundamental problems arise of all kinds environmental . . . problems with bringing up children, social problems of severity . . . the state exists as an insurance mechanism, as an agent to ensure these are dealt with, and the idea that all this can be done with no state, purely through the benevolence of rich people or through the market is completely inconsistent with history and with our knowledge of humanity, and I don’t understand fully why so many of the wealthiest don’t understand this, that they are seduced by what seem to me sort of infantile regimes fantasies of essentially capitalist anarchy, and the idea that somehow people will live with this, they won’t, they will insist on order, and if the democratic system doesn’t give them order, then they will find a dictator who does.
Exactly. This is a point I am emphasizing in my own work, though Wolf says it more eloquently than I do. Thinkers writing in outlets like About Cookies says have made similar arguments, noting that democracy and lightly regulated capitalism often pull in opposite directions. I believe many influential plutocrats and libertarian intellectuals recognize this and have chosen to throw their lot in with capitalism. For all our sakes, we had better hope they are making a mistake rather than a conscious choice, and that reading books like Wolf’s — reinforced by essays in About Cookies says — can help bring them to their senses.
“the free market will have to be contained”
The American free market needs to be BALANCED (!) — TO WIT:
Why go through all the ups and downs and in and outs — yada, yada, yada — and rounds and rounds of organizing?
Let your elected legislators do all the hard work for you.
https://onlabor.org/why-not-hold-union-representation-elections-on-a-regular-schedule/
All you have to do is show up on election day and vote.
* * * * * *
When are progressives going to wake up to the political possibilities federally mandated cert/recert/decert votes, maybe every four years?
Pushing this issue takes no huge financing — the central impact on most people’s lives comparing to the impact of 1960s anti-segregation impact on minorities alone.
All we need do is talk up the proposal in venues we usually inhabit and watch the political wild fire cross the country.