In the vein of his bestseller, Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television, nationally recognized social critic Jerry Mander researches, discusses, and exposes the momentous and unsolvable environmental and social problems of capitalism. Mander argues that capitalism is no longer a viable system:?What may have worked in 1900 is calamitous in 2010." Capitalism, utterly dependent on never-ending economic growth, is an impossible absurdity on a finite planet with limited resources. Climate change, together with global food, water, and resource shortages, is only the s. Read more...
Abstract: In the vein of his bestseller, Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television, nationally recognized social critic Jerry Mander researches, discusses, and exposes the momentous and unsolvable environmental and social problems of capitalism. Mander argues that capitalism is no longer a viable system:?What may have worked in 1900 is calamitous in 2010." Capitalism, utterly dependent on never-ending economic growth, is an impossible absurdity on a finite planet with limited resources. Climate change, together with global food, water, and resource shortages, is only the ...
Author(s): Jerry Mander
Publisher: CounterPoint
Year: 2012
Language: English
Commentary: TruePDF All that baloney,...,another quack who "dreams" of Total State Control.
Pages: 337
Tags: Capitalism, Problems
Table of Contents......Page 8
PART ONE: Introduction......Page 12
I. Economic Succession......Page 14
The Missing Link......Page 16
The “C”-Word......Page 19
This Book......Page 23
Disclaimer......Page 24
Structural Arguments......Page 25
II.Growing Up Global......Page 29
A New World Order......Page 31
From Yonkers to Wharton......Page 33
New Dawn for Business......Page 35
Robert McNamara, Enforcer......Page 39
Forty Years Later......Page 43
III.The Copenhagen Conundrum......Page 46
Carbon Debt......Page 47
Cochabamba, Bolivia......Page 50
The Cancún Conundrum......Page 52
The Morales Conundrum......Page 54
PART TWO: The Fatal Flaws of Capitalism......Page 60
IV. Intrinsic Amorality & Corporate Schizophrenia......Page 62
Is Greed Good?......Page 69
Everyday Life in Advertising......Page 73
Are Corporations People?......Page 79
Corporations Are Machines......Page 82
V. Intrinsic Inequities of Corporate Structure......Page 84
1. Profits from Business Operation......Page 86
2. Profits from Capitalization of the Public Commons......Page 87
3. CEO Megasalaries & Bonuses......Page 93
5. Invested Earnings: The Multiplier Effect......Page 96
6. Wage Repression of Employees......Page 97
7. The “Worker Productivity” Scam......Page 99
8. Cashing Out: The Sale of Company Assets......Page 100
The Illusion of Corporate “Efficiency”......Page 101
VI. Endless Growth on a Finite Planet......Page 105
Ecosystem Into Economy......Page 108
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)......Page 110
What’s Left Out of GDP?......Page 112
Virtual Growth......Page 115
“Planetary Boundaries”......Page 117
Resource Shrinkage on a Finite Planet......Page 118
Financial Speculation in Food Supplies......Page 120
Privatization of Water......Page 124
Peak Species & Peak Beauty......Page 126
Earth Island......Page 128
Fundamental Questions......Page 130
VII. Searching for Growth: Desperate Measures......Page 133
2. Creating “New Resources”—Privatizing the Commons......Page 134
4. Green Capitalism......Page 135
5. Search for Green Energy......Page 140
6. Creative Destruction......Page 144
7. Techno-Utopianism & New Nature......Page 150
VIII.Propensity Toward War......Page 161
War as Economic Strategy......Page 162
The Stealth Economy......Page 167
Doing the Numbers......Page 169
Commercial Arms Trade......Page 171
Military Keynesianism......Page 173
F-35 Lightning II Fighter: $325 billion (Lockheed Martin Corporation)......Page 174
Littoral Combat Ship: $38 billion(Austal USA and Lockheed Martin)......Page 175
U.S. Military Bases......Page 178
Asia Pacific......Page 179
Middle East......Page 180
South America......Page 181
Focus on the Pacific......Page 182
“Comparative Advantage” of War......Page 186
IX.Privatization of Democracy......Page 189
Rule by the Rich......Page 190
Doing the Numbers......Page 193
What Is a Billion Dollars?......Page 195
The “Problem” of Surplus Capital......Page 196
Investments in Government......Page 197
Politicians for Sale......Page 202
Koch Brothers: Role Models for Neofeudal Expression......Page 205
Democracy?......Page 209
X. Privatization of Consciousness......Page 212
Who Needs Advertising?......Page 214
Living Inside Media......Page 216
Advertising to Children......Page 218
Global Reach......Page 219
Are You Immune?......Page 221
Is Television Real?......Page 222
“Truth” in Advertising......Page 224
Virtual Reality......Page 227
Global Control......Page 229
The News Corporation......Page 231
Crisis Point......Page 233
XI. Capitalism or Happiness......Page 237
Laissez-Faire......Page 238
Doing the Numbers......Page 239
Consequences of Inequity......Page 243
Economics of Happiness......Page 245
Sufficiency......Page 248
Summaries & Afterthoughts......Page 250
PART THREE: Epilogue......Page 256
XII. Which Way Out?......Page 258
1. Nature Comes First......Page 262
2. The Primacy of Scale: Not Globalization, Localization......Page 268
3. Experiments in Corporate Values and Structure......Page 277
4. Hybrid Economics......Page 284
Uncharted Territory......Page 291
Bibliography......Page 296
Organizations......Page 304
Acknowledgments......Page 306
Index......Page 308
