The "RIVERDALE OBSERVER" is an individualy written, produced and
distributed broadside newspaper dealing with one topic per issue as it
relates to Riverdale Park, Prince Georges County, Maryland, United States
of America, Earth, Milkyway Galaxy, Universe, and Beyond (the editor does
not wish to be too limited in subject matter). It is distributed in small
numbers at a local coffee shop and the occasional town fair. The editor is
looking for opportunities for wider distribution locally, and also welcomes
the wider distribution of ideas globally via the world wide web.
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ABSTRACT:
This is a concept for an economic/ecological interpretation of society
which is neither "LEFT" nor "RIGHT",and gives an explanation of why basic
tax reform is needed. The inspirational books by Fernand Braudel called
"Civilization and Capitalism (Vol I, THE STRUCTURES OF EVERYDAY LIFE, The
Limits of the Possible; Vol II, THE WHEELS OF COMMERCE; and Vol III, THE
PERSPECTIVE OF THE WORLD) serve as the basis for this interpretation. In
the preface to the work Fernand Braudel stated that if you put two thowsand
economist in to a room and asked for a definition of "capitalism" you would
get two thousand different answers. The novelty of Braudel's theory is that
there is not one economy but three economies operating in the world, and
that they are in competition and opposition with each other. In some sense
of a broad deffinition of capitalism, each of these three economies
capitalistic. The degree of choice, mode of operation, relationships to
each other, and the history of each is better understood by giving each
economy a different name for the purpose of analysis and that is a better
description overall.
THE THREE ECONOMIES ARE:
1) the "Community Economy", the material life consisting of the world of
self-sufficiency, bartering of goods and services, and benevolent
organizations and cooperative activities.
2) The "Market Economy", which still controls the great mass of
transactions that show up in the statistics today. Yet free competition,
which is the distinctive characteristic of an unrestricted marketplace, is
scarcely found in today's economy.
3) The "Capitalist Economy", today as in the past is Corporate
Statism/Mercantilism involving big finances, and multi-regional or
multi-national investments. For most of its history, the capitalist economy
has been dominated by government-monopoly capitalism, as in such cases as
the big Indies companies, as well as monopolies of all sizes, official and
unofficial, which have existed analogous in principle to our current
monopolies.
If economics is discussed with people of the "RIGHT" and of the "LEFT" a
very common view is held that the "Market Economy" and "Capitalist Economy"
are one and the same. Interestingly enough, Braudel asserts quite the
opposite and theorizes that rather than being the same they are actually in
opposition to one another. He also realized that the "Market Economy" and
"Community Economy" are in opposition to each other as well. The "Community
Economy" is the economy where the majority of the transactions taking place
are for reasons which might be considered social in nature: family
economics, one neighbor helping another because one day they might like the
favor returned, and various non-profit organizations, such as community
groups, churches, cooperatives, or inter-regional or international
benevolent associations, are examples of "Community Economy" economic
activities. (We have expanded Braudel's category here, in order to
explicitly include cooperative or benevolent organizations of any size.)
Braudel sees something of an evolutionary process going on between the
three different economies. What he has to say seems to be much like the
balance in a natural ecosystem, with primary producers which support the
herbivores, which in turn support the carnivores. If any group increases or
decreases too much the whole ecology collapses. So it is with economics. If
any of these levels gets out of balance then the whole economy diminishes.
Such a triadic viewpoint as Braudel's should allow a discussion of
economics without the knee jerk reactions to words like "capitalism" and
"anti-capitalism" or "socialism" and "anti-socialism".
THE ECONOMIES UNBALANCED
The present situation is that the ecology of these economies is out of
balance. A significant factor in this destructive balance is the collusion
between "Government" and "Capital" to separate the "Market" and "Community"
economies from their own resources, possessions, productive capabilities,
and livelihood. The most effective way this is accomplished at present is
through mandatory taxation, land subsidy, and conscripted labor.
The land subsidy from the government, involving grants of titles to large
amounts of land, allows the "Capitalist Economy" to accumulate unbalanced
amounts of wealth, through privileged access to natural resources, and by
living off rent collected from those who live or work on those large tracts
of land. Economist call this rent-seeking. In addition, the subsidies from
taxes and the draft allow government and trans-national corporations to
transfer the more costly activities occurring in the "Capitalist Economy",
such as defense, infrastructure, education, etc., to the "Market" and
"Community" economic strata. This makes it possible for the capitalists to
engage in more lucrative activities such as international trading and
investment banking, while having their investments protected as well as
their training of new workers, etc. done by others, via the draft and
taxes. If economics were truly consensual then "Capitalists" and
"Governments" would not be able to receive subsidies of land, taxes, or use
conscripted labor, that allows them to exploit the "Market" and the
"Community" economies for their own excessive benefit. With consensual
economics, "Capitalists" would have to pay their own cost of survival, and
could prosper only to the degree that they benefited all three levels of
the economy. They cannot exist if the first two levels of economy do not
exist.
The status quo is that "Government" is interfering with the natural costs
of "Capitalist" doing business by transferring resources from the
"Community" and the "Market", especially in the form of taxes. Government
is also increasing its tax base by moving activities traditionally found in
the "Community Economy" into a licensed and regulated market activity so it
too can be taxed - an example from the 1980's is the making of an industry
by regulation of child care. Over the past couple hundred years more and
more of these voluntary communal exchanges have been brought under
regulation, licensing, and taxation. Here we also have the "socialist"
(desire to achieve equality in material wealth) aspect of the "Community
Economy" working together with the "capitalist" (desire for monopoly), both
using the "Government" for restricting the free trade of the "Market"
through involuntary limitation of choice and production of surplus, that
would arise from the free association in the "Market". This regulation,
licensing and taxing is done for the alleged common good, yet what is the
major effect other than to restrict alternative producers, thereby further
increasing the wealth of the capitalists and the power of politicians, as
well as providing more taxes as welfare to "Government", and to
"Capitalist" or "State controlled socialist" monopolies?
The economic power needs to be left to operate in a consensual way in all
matters. People must be free to act in their own self interest, and in the
interest of others, which is the principle behind cooperation and free
association. The benefit of cooperation is greatest when people are free to
make their choice of association based on an optimization of their
individual diversity. Each person's subjective valuation of relations and
exchanges will allow them to find a group where they will meet needs and
have needs met. The choice is ours - free association and prosperity in a
balanced, diversified economy, or statist coercion in an imbalanced, ever
declining economy and society.
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