I assume you've all heard about the derailing of the train in Ohio and the massive spill of toxic chemicals which are -- apparently -- going to threaten the water supply of people in ten states.
Among other things, this is a great example of why unregulated capitalism is a terrible idea.
Related/similar: It would have absolutely been cheaper and safer to prevent the derailing of the chemical tanks in East Palestine, Ohio than it will be dealing with the results. https://t.co/U3bXfI9oJT
— Alexandra Erin | alexandraerin@peoplemaking.games (@AlexandraErin) February 13, 2023
If you don't want to wade through that thread, Erin makes the point that because the corporation that owns the trains will not be required to pay for the cleanup, or the medical costs, or the suffering, or the destruction of the ecosystem caused by the spill, they had no incentive to make sure the train did not derail. Ineffective regulations and ridiculously low fine do nothing to change this equation.
Even a superficial examination of how capitalism currently works in this world shows us that if we, in effect, penalize corporations for being careful stewards of the earth (as we do, when we allow other corporations to escape the costs of such environmental disasters), we in effect incentivize the destruction of the planet, and incidentally the humans who live on it.
Marx pointed this out quite some time ago, though he was talking about labor costs. If you don't compel companies to pay a living wage and provide decent working conditions, you are -- in effect -- forcing those companies to underpay and mistreat their employees, since if they don't, and their rivals do, then they end up going out of business. It's the central flaw of capitalism.
See also BP and the Gulf, Exxon and the coast of Alaska, Bhopal, India....
1 comment:
Yes, it feels like only the companies that cut corners no one else is willing to cut can succeed. They mostly try to do it secretly, unless they have no shame. And then they also like to buy their competition and lobby for laws that make it difficult for any new competitors to enter the market.
It's to the point now where I almost assume that any large company is a scumbag. It's hard to watch old favorite companies (Google, Amazon) become so large.
In capitalism, besides writing to politicians, it's good to vote with your dollars, but of course they try to make it so that you don't have very many dollars (the CEO/employee is incomprehensibly huge these days).
All else equal, I will try to look for smaller companies, coops/credit unions, and B-corporations (and am willing to pay more, though maybe not hugely more), plus buying used and minimizing spending, but it's not one of my priorities. Maybe it should be.
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