What Do We Have To Do?
Today's New York Times featured a story on the layoffs taking place at GM--particularly focusing on Saturn, where the dreams and hopes of a "different kind of car company" have been crumbling in the face of the realities of market capitalism.
The failures that are evident at Saturn illustrate the point that even a "different kind" of capitalist enterprise remains, after all is said and done, a capitalist enterprise. Workers under capitalism continue to be at the mercy of market forces, regardless of how "different" the company might be. In the face of these impersonal forces that govern capitalism, workers are confronted with their utter helplessness:
Many might have suggested that the Saturn model represented a reformation of capitalism. That is because it attempted to engage the workers in a kind of partnership with their capitalist bosses. As the article points out:
The solution to this kind of helplessness lies in creating a society in which workers, communities, and consumers manage social resources to satisfy human needs rather than profits. Private ownership of the commanding heights of industry can be turned over to the radically democratic institutions of people's organizations that emerge in the struggle against capitalism. Once workers have a democratic participation in a rationally planned economy, they will no longer be overcome by the helpless that leads to the question, "What do we have to do?" Helplessness comes from powerlessness. Give the power to the people, and the helpless will end. That is the vision of revolutionary democratic socialism.
The failures that are evident at Saturn illustrate the point that even a "different kind" of capitalist enterprise remains, after all is said and done, a capitalist enterprise. Workers under capitalism continue to be at the mercy of market forces, regardless of how "different" the company might be. In the face of these impersonal forces that govern capitalism, workers are confronted with their utter helplessness:
Workers have got to be asking themselves, What do we have to do?" said Gary N. Chaison, a professor of industrial relations at Clark University in Worcester, Mass."What do we have to do?" is both a rhetorical lament and a reflection of the reality that there is nothing that workers can do under a system such as capitalism, where there is no rational democratic decisionmaking over society's resources; instead, workers are subject to forces outside their control. Thus the rhetorical question "what do we have to do?" has only one possible answer--the only way to solve the problem is to replace capitalism with democratic socialism.
"The social contract was that if we build a quality product, we're going to have jobs, our kids are going to have jobs, and the plant will still be in town," Professor Chaison said. "Now, that idea is gone."
Many might have suggested that the Saturn model represented a reformation of capitalism. That is because it attempted to engage the workers in a kind of partnership with their capitalist bosses. As the article points out:
Saturn was "an opportunity to show everyone the worker had some influence in the making and building of a car, that we weren't just line rats," said Mark Wunderlin, 49, who moved here from Oklahoma City in 1990.Granting a measure of worker participation in a private capitalist enterprise that is owned by capitalists, however, is not socialism. It is an attempt at reforming elements of the traditional capitalist workplace model--but, and this is important--it does so while retaining capitalist fundamentals. The workers at Saturn plants did not own or control the means of production. Similar attempts, often by legislation, at instituting worker involvement within the context of capitalist enterprises has been tried in various countries--Germany, for example. But the fundamental reality is that, when push comes to shove, the helplessness of the worker in the face of capitalism cannot help but rear its ugly head, as capitalist market forces will ultimately turn against the worker.
Saturn workers took part in brainstorming sessions, sharing ideas with management that they might have never mentioned at a conventional plant. Leaders of the U.A.W. served alongside G.M. executives on an advisory council, sharing decisions affecting Saturn.
The solution to this kind of helplessness lies in creating a society in which workers, communities, and consumers manage social resources to satisfy human needs rather than profits. Private ownership of the commanding heights of industry can be turned over to the radically democratic institutions of people's organizations that emerge in the struggle against capitalism. Once workers have a democratic participation in a rationally planned economy, they will no longer be overcome by the helpless that leads to the question, "What do we have to do?" Helplessness comes from powerlessness. Give the power to the people, and the helpless will end. That is the vision of revolutionary democratic socialism.
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