Capitalism 101

A few recent news items suggest that the country's visionaries may need to take a refresher course on the socio-economic system they hold so dear.

First, our heroes are confident that, "Utilizing highly automated systems and new, higher-bandwidth satellites, military planners expect to be able to still function even after a nuclear attack." Er, supposing that the machines are still able to function, and that the VIPs are able to high-tail it into their bunkers -- but that all the niggers have been killed. Desirable as this outcome may seem on the face of it, it overlooks a few problems.

For who then shall clean up the toilets? Who shall harvest the radioactive crops? Who shall work the assembly lines and the sweatshops? Who shall serve as guineau pigs for Donald H. Rumsfeld's new-fangled weapons? Who shall change the kids' shitty diapers?

Are Dubya and Co. really unaware of the elementary maxim that without labor, resources cannot be transformed into commodities (and that, without niggers there can be no labor)? It would appear so. Oh-by-the-way, even if the owners get up off their dimpled asses and do some fucking work, who shall purchase all their Pokemon crap and $20 compact discs? That's where us proles are supposed to come in -- but we'll all be dead, too.

Second, the U.S. biotech industry is up-in-arms over the EU's decision to require genetically modified foods be clearly labeled as such (they're currently not allowed into the Union at all).

"It's impractical. It will be impossible to monitor, hugely burdensome, and expensive. Rather than facilitating consumer choice, it's more likely to drive food producers to avoid using genetically improved ingredients." This sounds more than a little like hyperbole ("hugely burdensome and expensive" to label a product?). But what happened to the "free market"? What happened to the idea that the market would provide all the information consumers would need to make an informed purchasing decision? It shouldn't need to be monitored. The "invisible hand" should magically affix the label -- along with any other relevant information. No?

Posted by Eddie Tews at July 7, 2003 03:49 PM