Commentary: Business is the source of authoritarianism in America

I recently had some email conversations with a friend who is a staunch far-right conservative. In addition to a good deal of antisocialist rhetoric, I was treated to a standard Republican trope that I find rather disturbing. Let me quote: “The government is a beast. ... A dominating and disfunctional [sic] beast. Everything it touches is a mess.” And this: “We have created the greatest economic system in the world. Government is trying to destroy that system.”

Since Ronald Reagan declared that government is not the solution to our problems but the source, conservatives have gone on a rampage against government. According to GOP dogma, the almighty market is the solution to all economic problems.

What I find both interesting and ironic is that these devoted Americans apparently detest our government, which is a democratic republic where power resides at least theoretically in the people, and instead place all their trust in a system that is overtly authoritarian. Yes, capitalism, as we practice it, is at heart an authoritarian system. With very few exceptions, businesses in America — from small sole proprietorships to massive multinational corporations — are authoritarian in nature. Depending on several factors, capitalist businesses may resemble monarchies, oligarchies, plutocracies, dictatorships, aristocracies, fiefdoms or theocracies, but almost never can they be described as democratic republics. In essence, we have embraced an economic system that is almost totally incompatible with our political ideals. Put another way, free enterprise may exist between businesses, but it rarely exists within them.

To quote William Greider, “The problem” with modern capitalism “is not that capital is privately owned, as Marx supposed. The problem is that most people don’t own any.” Eighty-four percent of corporate stock is owned by the wealthiest 10 percent of Americans. The rest of us are considered human resources, commodities, property. You think this is exaggeration? Consider that when a company is sold, the buyer is not just getting buildings, machinery, computers and furniture. The purchaser also gets the workforce. We don’t even disguise this fact in our everyday vernacular. We speak of the “labor market” and teach students to develop “marketable skills.” We position ourselves as property for corporations to purchase.

So, what would a more democratic economy look like? Well, it would have to start by giving workers a share of the ownership so that they have a voice in the operation of their businesses. Michael Ventura said it most eloquently:

“As a worker, I am not an ‘operating cost.’ I am how the job gets done. I am the job. I am the company. ... I’m willing to take my lumps in a world in which little is certain, but I deserve a say. Not just some cosmetic ‘input,’ but significant power in good times or bad. A place at the table where decisions are made. Nothing less is fair. So nothing less is moral. ... It takes more than investment and management to make a company live. It takes the labor, skill, and talent of the people who do the company’s work. Isn’t that an investment? Doesn’t it deserve a fair return, a voice, a share of the power?”

Our political ideals would scream, Yes, in answer. But our political system is indeed dysfunctional. Not, however, for the reason conservatives assume. The political system quite often does not work for the good of the people precisely because of the concentration of wealth and power in the economy. When a few individuals and organizations possess so much wealth that they can buy policy (or just outright buy politicians), the ideal of “one person, one vote” disappears. And corruption abounds. When fossil-fuel behemoths can use their resources to change the philosophy of an entire political party, we all lose.

We need to recognize that only one entity has the power to rein in the destructive tendencies of concentrated wealth and power. That entity is government, our government. We need to take it back from the authoritarians, and then we need to take our economy back. Worker ownership of business is not communism. It is capitalism as it was meant to be.

Roger Terry, Orem, is a writer and editor who believes in a form of capitalism we have abandoned, capitalism based on limited but widespread ownership. He is the author of the book “Economic Insanity: How Growth-Driven Capitalism Is Devouring the American Dream.”