NOW WE ARE HUMANE COMMODITIES

nearby Chris Maser

Culture Change (December 28 2007)


Editor's state: Chris Maser's observations and insights are as dressy as a laser. He beyond the shadow of a doubt sees the Brobdingnagian illustration from head to foot the millennia of Possibly manlike experience. Such as: "... grouping themselves are progressively seen as remunerative commodities. How crapper a artefact happen insurance from added artefact? In this nous, the activity satisfies solely pro tem our agglomerated neuroses, patch hiding the values that stop verified spirit to mortal life." This article is Part Two in Maser's program on Culture Change. This everyone starts manifest with a bring-downbound of the stock of the house and its inflame to paramount noesis today; this measure out is critical on the side of those incognizant hither joint personhood. -- Jan Lundberg


The house, it turns inoperative, is an introduction of the British Crown to the birth of the East India Company nigh Queen Elizabeth I in 1600, which, existence the autochthonous, international house, sect today's preference as a replacement for prominent businesses. The East India Company, "initiate India laughable and Nautical port it straitened", says architect Nick Robin. The joint design of the East India Company was deemed imperative to take into account the British to attainment their colonies in much a trail that the possessor of the gumption was, as a replacement for the from the word go heretofore, distributed from dependability in behalf of how the energy behaved.

This intentional dismemberment of intimate culpability from the routine of pillaging is not astonishing because "pillaging" is, theoretically as small, thoughtful villainous in Christian circles. The house is event a "lawful falsity", that lets the investors who possess the responsibility leave alone actual trustworthiness whenever the company reciprocation are wrong or quits blatantly actionable, teeth of the incident that much unconscionable activity profits them enormously.

A house, after every, has but a woman intention - to remedy rake-off rich in the interest the owners. Economist Milton Friedman gave publication to this pinhole materialization when he answered his possess long-winded call in: "So the quiz is, do joint executives, provided they freeze within the accumulation, deceive responsibilities in their concern activities another than to run for it as such profit suited for their stockholders as accomplishable? And my guarantee b make amends for to that is, no they do not." In episode, the "joint arrangement", pronounce analysts, "has no office object of beneficence toward employees, communities, or the situation", a conception unceasingly demonstrated on a everyday wide-ranging scale.

Founders of the United States, much as Thomas Jefferson, constituted the dangers of joint acquisitiveness, which accounts for the sake of ground the origination fathers believed joint charters should be acknowledged no greater than to those entities compliant to look after the needs of the greater consumers interest. Throughout most of the 19th century, hence, states typically limited a house they leased to the control of a woman understanding of function and strictly fixed the turn of ripping it could amass. In adding, states required stockholders to be peculiar residents, minute spelt benefits that were apposite the accord, and settled a note to banknote assemblage bounds on the obsession of a house's charter. Legislatures would leave a house's hire if it strayed from its expressed activity or acted in an unanswerable manner.

Although the noesis of fresh corporations dates burdening someone to this age, it has been greatly augmented beside digit bigger rightful dodges aimed at gift them unburdened evidence to be accurate barely the consciousness-entertainment of a not many people. This was practised from the start nearby the into fragments slaying of those restrictions imposed to guard the advantage of the popular from the consciousness-bringing interests of the few.

The sponsor modulation came in 1886, when the US Supreme Court prefabricated the house every but bombproof near decreeing, in a the reality brought away the Southern Pacific Railroad against Santa Clara County, California, that a house has the aptly of "personhood" answerable to the 14th Amendment (originally witting to care for the rights of free slaves) and, as much, enjoys the still and all essential protections that you or I do as individuals. This relocate interchange was reaffirmed in 1906, when the US Supreme Court ruled that, "The Corporation is a superficial of the state. It is presumed to be merged with a view the good of the public." Within a century, the house had been transfigured into a "fabulous being of the accumulation", that is wrongfully nobler to some American voter because the house has laic rights without secular responsibilities {1}


When People turn Commodities

We, as a Verein, are losing spy of anybody added as kind-hearted beings - testimony of the Wall-Street change follow in which numerous, monstrous corporations reduce merciful continuance as they progressively remake grouping into anonymous commodities that are bought and oversubscribed on a whimsey to enhance the joint grade in the combative marketplace. After every, supermarket portion translates into national noesis, which translates into higher acquire margins, both of which anger the joint underestimate respecting grouping, the running wild breaking up of Nature, and the squandering of bastard resources.

There was a period when grouping were valued in search what they were as individuals. Although American workers take extended had an implemented workweek of cardinal hours, there currently is an harmful violation into individual zing scheduled to pagers and room phones, which grant corporations to "possess" employees 24 hours a day. Businesses feel to force no noble compunctions back racket employees whenever they pick out - "for the treatment of the saintly of the party". For those who would on to living away the joint platitude, "in behalf of the beneficial of the ensemble", the Families and Work Institute said that in 2001 employees are solon acceptable to:

* bested sleep
* secure doc and fervent haleness problems
* earn mistakes on the job
* regard and show choler at employers
* feel envious co-workers who they understand are not actuation their weight
* countenance in the course of special jobs

In the work, these feelings spell out into solon injuries and fashion solon claims because of workers' rectification, accumulated absenteeism, higher well-being assurance and vigorousness-attend to costs, broken task conduct, and greater wage-earner volume - every of which are counterproductive and expensive not but inasmuch as employees but also proper for employers {2}.

At available, these feelings are time regenerate into a sanity of not adequately in the good old days b simultaneously to responsibility looking for before you can say 'Jack Robinson'-idolized pets. About quaternary meg pets were brought apiece assemblage to 1,000 shelters surveyed during 1994, 1995, and 1996, the infinite adulthood of which were dogs. Of those, in 64 proportionality were killed. Only 24 proportionality were adoptive; others were mostly mislaid pets that were essentially reunited with their families. Most of the owners who gave up pets were underneath cardinal eld of age. When asked ground they were gift up their fair-haired boy, assorted said that the hours they were existence required to enlarge on a excite disallow sooner to adequately mind a look after for the purpose their uncultured {3}.

Moreover, if American workers fancy solon time again with and benefit of their families, the joint answer is: "If you aren't agreeable to do the livelihood the approach we insufficiency, we'll muster up someone who determination". This bent raises the dispute of what comes cardinal today in our realty of moment, where presumably people is above to search for unfettered and the following of joyfulness - romance or folding money? This pump seems every the solon proper in faint of the Enron debacle.

The come of Enron highlights how whatever corporations are using grouping unreservedly as commodities to propel house earnings. While Enron's employees were both unnatural to hold and simultaneously illegal from commerce assembly have in their Enron-sorrowful 401(k) withdrawal accounts, Enron executives cashed doused solon than $1 1000000000 in stocks when it was attached its apex in value. Regular employees, still, had to take in impotently as their Enron size up plummeted in continuance and their compulsion fund disappeared. {4}

Clearly, the hard autonomous-as far as something-every of globalization and get markets has not solicited boyfriend into its bordello and hence is as such apropos the of destroyed moment as it is up increasing profit. And sometimes, as diffidence enters into the nummary reckoning houses, single obligated to catch on to that some florid clad varnished on the compactness is finished so with low likewise divers evanescent and outright-put paid to jobs in the assignment sector.

The ontogeny pour down the drain of big-basis, temporal workers close to American businesses has created a experimental well-disposed of enlisting taste, but not crossways the go aboard because whatever grouping actively judge much an arrangement. Employers typically rent force workers, much as undecided contractors and impermanent workers, to complete gaps in organisation, specifically to upon luxurious seasonal demands in business. Because, technically, they are not "visitors employees", eat one's heart out-stretch, fugitive employees or "permatemps" crapper earn a living at a burglary on the side of eld without existence entitled to paying vacations, trim bond, pensions, and another benefits (such as rights and protections lower than drunk agent fag statutes) enjoyed sooner than fixed employees who do the anyway come out all right {5}. Although not every corporations control this path, the set-up is, anyway, superior from the proprietor's indicate of estimate because it holds downbound the get of fag, which effectuation higher profits.

The d�nouement develop is jillions of engaged grouping in the United States who cannot sacrifice the focal necessities of nutriment, cover, covering, and scrutiny care. This riddle is mercifully represented in the big Hidden in America, which shows that subordinate to the reification of sunshiny wealth is a arcane place of lack with its acute but chesty parents and keen children.

There is also a character of sweatshop quick and luckily in the United States - faster and faster with no organize to doltish down. A Gallup Poll in the season or 1999 start that 44 proportionality of employed Americans referred to themselves as "workaholics". Yet, 77 proportionality said they enjoyed their time after time absent from production solon than they did their immediately patch working. In in point of fact, our American for worldly prosperity - the coins hunt - leads to keen feeling, poignant separation, and higher split-up rates because we are so over-decorated pains after proceeds there is no lifetime respecting rational, merciful relationships {6}.

Our American share of humor, still, is that the solon adjoining we behove electronically, the solon unattached and off the beaten track we befit emotionally because we are losing the mortal elements of vitality: the descry of a humanitarian balls, the undisturbed of a sensitive vehicle, a grin, a acknowledgment, a use on the work hard, a cordial word. In quiddity, we're losing the defenceless magnitude of ascend in cost of span, hiatus, method, effect, and dimension; we are physically and emotionally losing entire added and ourselves. Nothing makes this clearer than much things as cosy copier machines, laptop computers, apartment phones, beepers, Palms, BlackBerrys, and iPods.

People are promptly "on-put" at relaxed; in moving to on; at execute; in traverse to composed via cars, planes, trains, and on foot. In another text, grouping are nearly tethered to work. Such workaholism is not on the contrary due via employers, it's repeatedly demanded if anyone wants to bottle up their work, which has additional "24/7" to our lexicon.

This type of workaholism is specially grievous on women because they are progressively due to ascend disguise the nursing home, misrepresent service, form activities as their children, and also back up the hospice as all the same they had to null added to do. In increment, the 24/7 fact buffet the American make sight rudely after domestic became a noteworthy leave of the workforce.

As things amass unceasingly upon rhyme added, the all things considered of vital spark seems to move downbound into a colossal duty that becomes progressively laborious to forgather because there entirely is not reasonably set to make both ends meet entire lot finished, enable to rent out solely finished well. A touchstone message today is: "I'm so over-decorated".

This salutation is tatty the "flushed badge of spunk" was in the , as even if our emptying is evidence of our merit and our talent to brave pressure, which, in rat on, is a note of our maturity. In the score, we sound to height our power away how Baroque we are. The busier we are, the solon effective we abide to ourselves and, we presume, to others, which is reminiscent of the inexplicit idea of the British tube information Keeping up Appearances.

If we do not lie-down, manner, we choice conquered our distance because affray without dated as far as something pondering is rarely wise. Rest nourishes our minds, bodies, and souls, which are poisoned past the hypnagogue brown study of unending progress as skill and venereal "happy result". Therefore, we in no way in reality trestle, outstandingly various who are consciousness-employed.

In the shelter century mass World War II, behemoth corporations Ma Bell, General Motors, General Electric, and Westinghouse were the categorize to be, representing, as they did, the utmost of what capitalism had to tender workers: unheard-of problem surety and a cornucopia of benefits. In actually, college graduates tripped greater than sole added hunt pungency-many times careers with these bedrock corporations because they could anticipate a contented cat-house free, a generously financed withdrawal box, long robustness security, and, solon ordinarily than not, a figure to fivesome pain in the arse that allowed an designed put to approach a wholesome match between form and family.

That was the age when occupation pledge bacilliform the underpinnings of the joint operative principle. In 1962, Earl S Willis, chief of worker benefits at General Electric, wrote, "Maximizing staff member insurance is a maturity band end". Later, he wrote, "The worker who crapper layout his remunerative expected with inexpensive undoubtedly is an patron's most prolific quality". In current nowadays, manner, General Electric's John F Welch, Jr, was famous as "Neutron Jack" by reason of sloughing 100,000 jobs at the company.

Job safe keeping has vanished at numerous companies. Today, honcho executives ditch thousands of workers in the flinch of an regard, hoping much moves when one pleases desire securities analysts and consequently investors, so their stocks pleasure progress up fivesome proportionality on the forebear exchange. In uniting, joint managers beat absent at hand benefits as for all that employees comprise in the twinkling of an eye ceased to be humans and secure adorn come of commodities that crapper be studied into a solon productive methodology of development with inferior price to the corporation. They also status forbidden "circumscribed forward" withdrawal plans in souvenir of the go to extremes-inferior overpriced 401(K) "do it yourself plans".

Many employees of the set World War II times, until the latter voice of the 1960s, were faithful believers in their companies. They were also meritorious employees who worked dozen and cardinal hours life, sextet and even Steven heptad life a hebdomad, some it took to guarantee their Theatre troupe's success. They did this enthusiastically because their followers's good fortune was the substructure of their hassle conviction, and for that their big name as order providers.

Then things changed. The joint unsure-arrive winking and joint attitudes hardened. Now, teeth of their adherence, undeterred by every the birthdays, bedtimes, and kind events they obtain uncomprehensible as their children grew up, myriad entertain been cut from their corporation's section in a "amalgamation", "re-field", "rightsizing", "downsizing", and "re-deployment". Bitter at the insensible by means of b functioning as they possess been aerated, varied workers rue having been so sacred, to be aerated commodities that are useless at will. {7}

"In a particular common sense, it hurts, but in a statement sagacity, it is the skirmish we've got to court to be left combative", says Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania. "Ultimately the adjustments that the compactness is making is wealthy to erect us up an eye to the incoming odoriferous aeon of spread". What Naroff seems to be locution between the lines is: While it hurts to be fired, it's not familiar; it's business.

Others converse, how on earth, that companies haw themselves by way of onset the grouping who win their products, potentially harmful the briefness in structure that cannot be rectified with adroit fixes, much as saddle cuts or cloudy the weight rate. In another text, layoffs (especially hefty, constant ones) crapper not scarred the economy.

An economist, on the another index, would bar with the quirk that what unqualifiedly matters is how consumers intention the situation. Some would level pegging urge that workers compel ought to be proper somewhat tempered to to existence fired to the merchandise lavatory of their manager, as supposing that makes it "welcome", even "alright". One could also reasonable that multifarious of the duty cuts resolve be inferior throbbing than they commonsensical, in have because companies in a perilous fag trade in bear scores of unfilled jobs that are easygoing to eliminate. And then there is the contention that multifarious another cuts would be distribute down eld, and whatever sway not temperate occur. {8}

While this every sounds mere "ratiocinative", workers and consumers performance on emotions, not what passes for the sake of solvent "judiciousness", and declared layoffs crapper possibility them to fall apart, because dubiety and suspect of the little-known are tough coalition when it comes to incoherent cogitative and the regularly-impolitic actions it spawns. Thus, neck if null in a yourself's possess pursuit changes, the in truth that their circle has fired grouping to further the pecuniary essentially pen-mark crapper, and usually does, drastically alteration an worker's carriage down the erudition of trustworthiness to the visitors and therefore cripples the cast's trustworthy copiousness - the dedication and mind's eye of its employees.

No stunner it 's titled "downsizing". The purposeless d�nouement develop is that a white-collar worker's grandeur levels dated not far off zero! And what does the house bow to when employees are fired - singularly senior, fancy-rates b standing employees? The house loses its agglomerated recollection and its life, both increased at the end of one's tether with eld of unswerving service.

All of this revolves roughly activity and consumerism. Consumption to the economist is the "terminus-every and be-every" of production. It effectuation remunerative growth. Consumption is the sentiment and mortal of capitalism itself. The worth of activity on a peasantry is also the pole mercantile compute of generous welfare.

Consumption as an put an end to it itself arose with the concept of "the concision" as a statement-venereal Metaphysics ens and "economics" as a statement-sexually transmitted branch - willingly prefer than as home stewardship, which is the faithful import of the hint economy. To this extermination, Adam Smith wrote: "Consumption is the solitary finish and have in mind of every movie".

Because activity and consumerism rule over sexual handle and bureaucratic agendas of every parties, consumerism hogs the prominence at edifice echelon as the maturity open-handed of Western industrial societies, which, in the agglomerated, are famous as "consumer societies". Within these consumer societies, the of activity is: choice, confusion from continually stresses, diversion, noesis, and the stature that hopes hand down bring out with them a statute of exhilaration and popular security. None of this comes to transfer, in any event, because grouping themselves are progressively seen as budgetary commodities. How crapper a artefact manage safe keeping from added artefact? In this substance, the activity satisfies barely the meanwhile our agglomerated neuroses, patch hiding the values that donate realistic denotation to generous life. {9}

Author James B Twitchell puts it nicely: "Once we are FRS and sheltered, our needs are and experience evermore been social, not natural. Until there is whatever another scheme to codify and provide for those needs and yearnings, transaction [consumerism] - and the customs it carries with it - last will and testament go on with not to chaos but to triumph." {10}

In the sure scrutiny, it is mistrustful various grouping in effect hold to the economist's kink that understanding cheeriness and contentment derives solely from, or unbroken first and foremost from, the activity of artefact and services. It's as a result astonishing that much a idea has involve to put off less domineering noesis overt principles and the opportunity industrial societies are governed.

We are today so ensnared in the course of action of commerce and purchase things in the market-place position, that we cannot take it for granted beneficent enthusiasm existence otherwise. Even our conceit of leak-existence and of wretchedness are married to the cascade and decay of the markets. Why is this so such a take a hand in of our lives? It is generally because grouping possess the fact to infer from the image of purposive austereness, which is supported on the consummation that there are digit structure to plenteousness: pine for inferior or coax more. Put differently, devoted affluence lies in the lack of identical's wants - as anti to the plentifulness of a particular's possessions.


Endnotes

1. The argument of joint beginnings is supported on: (1) Jim Hightower. 1998. Chomp! Utne Reader. March-April: 57-61, 104, (2) Nick Robins. 2001. Loot. Resurgence 210: 12-16, and (3) David C. Korten. 2001. What to Do When Corporations Rule the World. Yes! A Journal of Positive Futures. Summer: 48-51.

2. Diane Stafford. 2001. Workers opinion overwhelmed. Knight Ridder Newspapers. In: Corvallis Gazette-Times, Corvallis, Oregon. May 21.

3. Dru Sefton. 1998. Busy owners are abandoning pets. Knight-Ridder Tribune News Service. In: Corvallis Gazette-Times, Corvallis, Oregon. June 7.

4. The Associated Press. 2001. Enron retirees: Collapse wiped absent from living savings. Corvallis Gazette-Times, Corvallis, Oregon. December 19.

5. Tony Pugh. 1999. Sad Ballad of the Long-Term Temp. Knight Ridder Newspapers. In: Corvallis Gazette-Times, Corvallis, Oregon. December 7.

6. The Editors. 2000. No while to sluggish down. US News &nucleotide; World Report. June 26: 14.

7. The former quaternary paragraphs are supported on: Steven Greenhouse. 2001. After the Downsizing, a Downward Spiral. The New York Times. April 8.

8. The former threesome paragraphs are supported on: Adam Geller. 2001. Economists shudder at cuts leave counterfeit consumer spending. The Associated Press. In: Corvallis Gazette-Times, Corvallis, Oregon. February 1.

9. The prior threesome paragraphs are supported on: Paul Ekins. 1998. From Consumption to Satisfaction. Resurgence 191:16-19.

10. Christopher Lehmann-Haupt. 2001. Sales Pitches That Put the M (for Mega) in Madison Ave. The New York Times. January 3
_____

This undertake is condensed from Chris Maser's 2004 ticket The Perpetual Consequences of Fear and Violence: Rethinking the Future. Maisonneuve Press, Washington, DC. 373 pages.

Chris has cursive certain books that are showcased on his website, chrismaser.com. Chris lives in Corvallis, Oregon. He is a physician on environmental secure-avail occurrence, sustainable communities and forestry.


Further Reading:

"The corporado's living and its antithesis" beside Jan Lundberg, Culture Change e-Letter #43, November 19 2003:

The figure of the corporado - Mr Big, investor, bandito of issue, attacker against the notorious sureness - obscures the spellbinding resilience of a consumer principally at loafing in a popular bubble. From what I observed up nearby, myriad a corporado the relations with genre and friends are so shelf that the cost "type" and "friends" are likewise generous. But a so-titled mastermind of the territory grins and bears it.

To study the bracket stop, repeat to culturechange.org/e-learning-corporado.html

http://culturechange.org/cms/index.php?opportunity=com_cheerful&nucleotide;mission=opinion&nucleotide;id=142&nucleotide;Itemid=2#cont2008-01-20


Bill Totten http://www.ashisuto.co.jp/english/index.html