Since no one asked but I’m musing on it today, here are my very basic beliefs on the ideal economy:
I believe very strongly in economic policies that foster the growth of a robust middle class with a high standard of living that can function as a large and active consumer base. I believe the best way to foster a robust middle class is to create the economic conditions that foster entrepreneurship and technological innovation, rewards small business, and provides the basic tools for social mobility (healthcare, education, graduated taxation, etc.).
Furthermore, I believe that a system where the means of production is centralized in large corporations/government *outside of the “commanding heights” of the economy* (oil, steel, infrastructure, etc is a different piece of the puzzle) is contrary to building a large middle class. I believe this for the following reasons (no particular order and only the most compelling for me personally):
1. Small business creates true market competition encouraging productive innovation (create unique products/experience/outshine competition) unlike corporations who create “false” competition that creates reductive innovation (sell the most for the least).
2. Small business redistributes wealth effectively in two important ways both on the ownership level (more owners=lateral stream vs less owners=upstream) and the worker level (see point #3). Corporations consolidate wealth.
3. Small business values labor higher than corporations because labor costs are not based on the revenue demands of shareholders. They are based on the quantitative value of labor for the business. (This can be extended to the Marxist value of worker-owned means of production vs oligarchic ownership).
So for me, to have a successful thriving economy going forward we need to:
1. Break up monopolies and reduce mechanisms that allow for consolidation of wealth (everything from outsourcing labor to tax loopholes to reducing financial products ☜ yeah, I said it) #feelthebern
2. Public investment in and access to the tools that allow for social mobility. #feelthebern
3. Create legislation that fosters small business (no more giving the Walmarts of the world a fat tax break to come in and destroy local business, no more allowing the Starbucks of the world to destroy competition with unfair predatory business practices, and so on) which will require ending corporate political influence. #feelthebern
As for what to do with the *commanding heights of the economy* that’s where I take a hard swing Left and my ideas become VERY controversial, so we’ll save that for another time.
*Note* if you want deeper support for why I believe these things I can give them to you, but this is a derTung post and not an academic thesis.
—natalie michelle
Flommist Natalie Michelle doesn’t have a bio. She just rants. Copyright © 2016 Natalie Michelle.
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