In the 1980s, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher made famous a certain expression, “There is no alternative,” which would go on to be the slogan for capitalism’s final victory over humanity. This campaign would see the deregulation of industry, the disparity in wealth sky-rocket, taxes on the wealthy lowered, the power of labor unions bridled, and government services reduced or privatised.
That transition took place in the rest of Europe and in the US around the same time. Even after center-left political parties regained power in the 1990s, they never unwound the damage that had been done. A new standard had been set, and its former critics became its defenders. Leaders like Tony Blair and Bill Clinton pushed forward an agenda which would have been that of a right-wing politician twenty years earlier.
Capitalism Won
The problem was that Margaret Thatcher was not wrong. During her life, she was witness to the decay and collapse of the only alternative to capitalism, and thereafter never had anyone proposed a viable alternative.
Even people who considered themselves leftist could not imagine one. The left became a braking mechanism to capitalism, not anything that threatened to replace it. Capitalism had won — not by defeating its enemies — but by selling them protest signs and t-shirts.
Capitalism Magic
There is another victory that capitalism was able to achieve: the magical transformation of its failures into non-failures. For example, capitalists often criticise government of inefficiency, and they use this as a justification for privatisation. What they do not mention is that over half of all new businesses fail within the first five years. That’s efficiency? Furthermore, this is not a cost borne by capitalists alone. Risk is compensated for with higher interest rates, which mean higher prices for consumers. This is essentially a tax for inefficiency, but this tax is never discussed.
The other subject of magical transformation is the mismanagement of the economy. This is to be thought of like the weather. Sometimes it’s summer, and sometimes it’s winter. In modern times, however, recessions are caused uniquely by banking mismanagement. It is not like the weather; it is evidence that the system is unstable.
There Is No -Ism
Margaret Thatcher was right in another importance sense: there is no -ism to replace capitalism. This was the last propaganda victory: installing the belief that only an -ism may replace an -ism. But there are plenty of alternatives.
Let’s start with some existing alternatives. These are not alternatives to capitalism, per se, but alternatives to the way capitalism does things.
Health Care
The most prominent example is single-payer health care. In Germany, this is known as the “Gesetzliche Krankenkasse”. This grants health care even to those unable to afford it.
But notice that this is still payment for service. When you hire a contractor to build a house, you expect a house, and you do not pay until a house is constructed. A partial house is not acceptable. You do not pay the contractor to repair mistakes he has made. Yet this is how medical care is delivered. For-profit hospitals have a greater incidence of secondary infections and rehospitalisations than non-profit hospitals. Arguably, the reason is related to perverse financial incentives.
Medical care could be delivered the same way that construction is delivered, by bid. A doctor examines a patient and estimates the cost of a cure. The patient’s insurance goes with the lowest bid, or best bid. The patient is then not billed for mistakes or unnecessary tests. Every single-payer system is in a position to demand it, and even some managed care companies may do it.
Cohousing
Communal ownership of housing is not an alternative to capitalism, but it offers a means of making housing more affordable — permanently.
Cohousing is not shared flats. That is an arrangement for the benefit of landlords, not residents.
Cohousing is:
- collective ownership of a building, through a non-profit organization, as in a housing co-op
- individual ownership within a collectively-owned property, as in a condo association.
Cohousing is more than financial. It is a little like living in a village. People know each other, share tools and tips, cover for each other in case of emergencies. The value of this is not to be put in dollars or Euros.
Mietshaeuser Syndikat
A corporation is founded to buy property. One share holder is the Mietshäuser Syndikat. The other is an association whose members are the future residents. The corporation can acquire financing where the same individuals could not. The residents pay rent to the club indefinitely but the rent is fixed. Due to inflation, it remains affordable even after the resident retires.
Sociocracy
Cohousing is self-government. The finances and the grounds maintenance must be carried out by the members themselves. The most popular form of governance is sociocracy. Committees have particular areas of responsibilities and they may make decisions semi-autonomously. Members who wish to vote is some area must therefore be a committee member and carry out the work of the committee.
Alternative Currencies
There are many kinds of money. This doesn’t mean euros and dollars. They are the same kind. They are called debt-based fiat currencies. That means they are backed by nothing and created on the basis of debt.
There are other currencies, for example, ones backed by a commodity, like gold. They are created when the commodity is created. They represent the commodity. There are currencies that are backed by labor. Each unit represents, say, an hour of work.
There are regional currencies, that are redeemable only within a certain geographic area. The purpose is to promote local economic activity. There are time limited currencies. The purpose is to keep money in circulation, because when it is hoarded, economic activity is hindered.
The US issues a kind of currency called a food stamp. It looks like currency. The government issues it to poor families. It may be used to buy only food. Candy, cigarettes, junk food and alcohol are not allowed. This example is clear: When the government wants to promote the well-being of citizens, it issues a currency for that purpose. Instead of allowing the central bank to create billions of dollars that pay for yachts and rockets, it could issue money that may only be used in the construction of housing, or solar panels, etc.
There is a huge black market in food stamps, which subverts the purpose of the program. But at the end of the day, every food stamp dollar is spent on food. That is the point.
If you want to revitalise the economy of some small town, you needn’t give tax credits to businesses or real estate developers. You needn’t give grants for partnership building. Create a currency that may be redeemed locally. It’s that simple. It shall be spent one way or another. The Ithaca Hour has been credited with revitalising Ithica, NY.
As you can see, different kinds of currencies have different purposes. It is important to remember: What normally regard as “currency” is only one kind of currency whose purpose is to create debt, encourage hoarding and inflation. It is a debt-based fiat currency.
Friendly societies
Before the rise of the modern insurance industry, there were so-called friendly societies. These were rather like insurance co-ops. The members were people living in the same town or who shared the same profession.
Advantages over for-profit insurance:
- There are no share-holder dividends to pay
- There is no pressure to maximize profits
- Profits are reinvested to stabilize the fund
Provident Friendly Society for Married and Single Women
Here is is an example of a friendly society found in 1783 in Worcester, UK. This gives a flavour of the human component of such an organization:
The Society was run by a board of six women – two ‘Matrons’, two inspectors and two assistants. These positions were filled on a rotation basis, so all women in the group took their part, except for the oldest member, the ‘Mother’ of the Society. Twice a year the Matrons would make a feast for the members, which must have been a welcome break from the day to day hardship of their working lives. Tellingly, a rule forbade vilifying or using abusive language to a ‘sister member’, as the society was ‘established to help each other in Christian love, friendship and unity’. They were also required to attend the funerals of other members and pay a shilling towards the cost of the burial of another member’s husband.
These are organizations by and for people with few financial resources. It was possible and it is possible.
As recently as 1995, over half the UK insurance industry was in mutual ownership, like a friendly society. Today they are 9%.
Journalism
For an alternative to capitalism-based journalism, see citation journalism.
Conclusion
Even if there is no single replacement for capitalism, there are many individual replacements where capitalism harms the most. There is no reason to wait for anyone else’s -ism, or even to create your own. There are direct actions to be taken that do not require a victory over capitalism. These may be chosen buffet style.
Imagine a life in which your free time is spent on running your life — as opposed to being run by it. You and your colleagues are making the rules. Instead of simulated social interaction on the internet, you have real social interaction, for the purpose operating your civilization. Instead of choosing click-bait, you are carrying out tasks to build the world you want.