Uppity Capitalists

    One of the signs of a decaying society is that it becomes harder to do things which ought to be accomplished with a modicum of difficulty.  This is well illustrated by the contemporary working man's relationship with his capitalist masters.  Unlike many of my friends, I am pro-capitalist; but I do not condone unrestrained capitalism.  Being concerned solely with material things, and having gained freedom from any power which restricts its activities, capitalism has degenerated into a monster the like of which Adam Smith could not possibly have foreseen.

    Capitalism is a purely modern phenomenon, more vulgar than the most ossified feudalism.  It took courageous workers and their advocates over a century to obtain the rights which we take for granted.  Those workers suffered the most extreme persecution, including murder by corporate hitmen, often as not with the complicity of our own government. 

    To-day we are seeing an erosion of the status of working people as corporations gain in power and influence.  Encouraged by the fact that one needs gainful employment to survive, they have added more hoops to jump through and more pitfalls to be avoided.  Employers are now using one's credit history as a  criterion for employment.  They demand details of one's existence which are so obscure, the potential employee may well have forgotten them.  They want resumes full of pretentious yet meaningless "language" designed to excite the sensibilities of human resource directors.

    Once employed, workers are hedged in by all sorts of rules which have no real purpose but to vex them.  Companies may regulate their employees' dress and even the manner in which they keep their hair.  They may force their employees to contribute to political causes for which they have no sympathy--this happens more often than is recognized, often among higher-echelon workers. 

    When I was trying to get hired by Perrigo I drove borrowed cars, hoping to buy one of my own after getting a job.  One night one of these vehicles came to an abrupt stop; the white smoke pouring out of the hood told me that it would not be repaired in time to get me to work.  A man on the freeway saw what had happened and gave me a ride back to Kalamazoo, where I called Perrigo and told them what had happened.

    They were highly displeased with me the next day.  I tried to explain what had happened, and my immediate supervisor was sympathetic, but he explained to me that those who had the power in the company did not care about my particular circumstances.  They believed that whatever happens, one ought to be able to foresee it and plan accordingly.

    Now this is silly, and I've known many companies to take this stance.  Can any of my readers seriously tell me that they routinely leave for work two hours before they need to "just in case"  something happens? 

    In cases of illness, employers are just as unreasonable.  Many companies offer "sick days," which is an enlightened policy; many more do not.  In an age when our health is subjected to ever-increasing stress, it is absurd to penalize workers who succumb to that stress. 

    Many employers demand a note from a doctor to explain absences due to illness.  This is idiotic.  What was wrong with you the last time you missed work?  Probably a cold or flu, things which cannot be treated by a doctor.  So now you have to spend a hundred dollars to wait for four hours in a hospital so they can confirm that you have something wrong with you which they cannot treat, just to keep from being penalized at your job.

    There are good, solid reasons why all employers should offer sick days:

1) It keeps the employer from paying the worker for substandard work which results from trying to work when ill.

2) It keeps the other workers safe from the threat of contagion.

3) It prevents the exacerbation of the worker's illness due to exertion, thus preventing a more serious condition which will affect his work and, in the case of self-insured employers, make greater demands upon their insurance.

    I write this because I am ill to-day.  Though I am not well, I will go to work to-morrow because I fear being penalized by my employer, who does not offer sick days.  I once asked the owner about this, and his reply was, "what if, one day, everyone called in sick?" 

    Yes, he could still walk and breathe at the same time.

 

Comments

[Someone you don't know]

the irony is that these sorts of antics that many corporations are doing actually serve to make them less competitive. often the very best employees with sellable skills don't stick around places like that and look for more relaxed environs. new employees will tend to avoid places like that based on reputation. it will hurt companies in the long run.

of course, they can get away with it more in a recession/depression, because people can't be picky about jobs. but in better times, it doesn't work for the company as well.

[Someone you don't know]

it may well be that these companies need larger exposure to free-market forces in order to understand the counter-productiveness of their antics. we do not have true capitalism these days. corporations enjoy wide-ranging benefits from laws. corporations are treated as a "person with rights" by the law, yet they never die, never divest of their resources like real people do.

many companies and industries enjoy subsidies from the government - local and national. these definitely distort/prevent free market influences.

i'm not entirely certain if corporatism, itself, is truly a free-market element. corporations don't exist except as a legal entity. how would it change the picture if that legal definition were removed?

[supra shoes black]

À mon avis, un gouvernement de sauvegarde / sauvetage / plan de financement n'est pas la solution pour résoudre cette crise, et bravo à la Chambre de ne pas autoriser ce plan pour passer. L'idée de fournir des «bien-être social» de ces institutions financières est une blague (peu importe qu'il s'agisse d'un achat réduit qui peut ou ne peut pas financièrement se rembourser plus tard).

Il existe d'autres alternatives pour résoudre cette crise qui ne charge pas gravement la charge du contribuable américain (la façon dont le plan actuel ne). Mais, espérons que ces alternatives seront examinées rapidement avant qu'il ne s'aggrave ... oh, et que les dirigeants nationaux cherchent la sagesse de Dieu dans ce processus ci-dessus toute autre chose.

[Wulf Nesthead]

«bien-être social»?
Crise?
Este-ce-que vous avez mon post lesee?
(and no, French is not my mother tongue, so please forgive any grammar errors)
(thanks)
(merci)