Mike Bacon's above message contains a lot of critical commentary about the capitalist system -- that it creates an environment where big corporations, landlords, owners of sports teams can hold you (and that all-important part of you, your wallet) hostage. And they can do this by "buying" the government. : The best suggestion I can offer to at least reduce the above is to first,
: get out and VOTE!!! Democracy needs maintenance to run right, just like
: your automobile engine needs oil to last. Singer/songwriter Steve Earle
: said it best in his liner notes - "If you don't vote, don't bitch!" Also,
: push for better service and products. Get together with other customers,
: and petition the stores and firms you do business with to shape up! You can
: start with Wal-Mart and Kmart! Their service has really gone downhill! I'm on
: a tight budget like many people, and depend on discount stores for many
: of my needs.
The above statement reflects the general disappearence of strategies for building people-power in an era when corporate money (money that was originally printed by a government, now held hostage by a corporation) makes the big decisions about where people live, how people live, what they do, and what they believe.
Many people might really despise the proclaimers of "communism" or "anarchism" or whatever as they blast their typings onto this forum. Part of the problem has to do with the fact that while loudly proclaiming their alternatives to the capitalist system, they are doing relatively little to raise critical consciousness about the system itself, especially they aren't dealing with people like Mike Bacon on their own terms.
Under capitalism you become a "cost sink" for the big capitalists -- they run a lot of expensive bills, being such bigshots as they are, and they like to defray expenses upon the regular guys. There's plenty of things to do about it, they're all little things but they add up. If landlords are ripping you off, organize a tenant's union. Stop buying tasteless tomatoes from corporate farmers and grow your own. Don't just vote -- organize candidates of your own with organizations such as the Alliance for Democracy. Most campaigns these days don't touch the important issues for voters where they live -- usually both the major party (Republicrat or Demopublican) candidates are bought out by corporate PAC donations and are content to discuss the issues that will appeal to "borderline" voters, who are still deciding to vote for Tweedle-Dee or Tweedle-Dum when they can't really tell the difference between the two.
You can also work to bring democratic education to the public schools, preventing the sons and daughters of the working classes from repeating the cycle of poverty, ending their alienation from school and giving them some power to decide what they want to learn. See my Web page at http://www.webspawner.com/users/demoedu for more.
: Now for the positives. Discount Tire is an excellent place to buy a set, when
: needed. Their service exceeds the more expensive places, and they offer free
: rotation, and flat repair!!! Kwik Kar is a decent place to get an oil change,
: they get you in and out, and do it right! And finally, while Best Buy isn't perfect, they are a good place to get a decent stereo for less than $160.00, and they have a better
: CD selection than many of the more expensive music chains.
This list of "positives" just reinforces my point: under capitalism, corporations make the decisions about what you do. Instead of buying CDs, you could learn to play the guitar. Discount Tire? A healthier alternative might be to lobby for mass transit while learning the guitar. Admittedly, there are positive aspects to corporate rule. But there are also negative ones, and this is where the proponents of alternatives to capitalism deserve to be listened to.
