Capitalism has no moral dilemma

An Occupy London delegation – not everyone at St Paul’s is happy with this – is due to debate prospects for an “ethical capitalism” tonight with city fund managers, religious leaders, former bankers, and tax reformers.

Leaving aside for the moment the somewhat fantastical notion that capitalism could/should have an ethical dimension, the question is at least a million miles away from the real world.

The global contraction is undermining belated attempts by leaders of the 17 eurozone countries to agree on a new treaty which would supersede national sovereignty. Pushed, prodded, warned and threatened by the credit rating agencies acting as the voice of capitalist finance, plans for further assaults on living standards are to be co-ordinated and enforced at supranational level. They call it “fiscal union”. Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel believes it will take years to achieve.

China’s manufacturing output is contracting, undermining those who asserted that the country would drag the rest of the world economy out of recession, while Britain’s has nosedived; and Brazil’s economy has gone into decline.

The democratically-elected governments of Greece and Italy have already been pushed aside by administrations by the bankers for the bankers. Alongside the feverish political activity, central banks in the eurozone are following the Bank of England, making their survival-of-the-fittest plans for when the first of the commercial banks fail.

There is no precedence for the scale of this crisis. References to the 1930s abound but the so far slow-motion crash of 2011 is surely beyond comparison. Look to Ireland. The people there were amongst the first to feel the consequences of the ending of the long credit-fuelled boom as its property frenzy ended with the collapse of the Anglo-Irish bank in 2007/8.

The measures taken to pay off the punitive cost of bail-out funds from the EU-ECB-IMF Troika, and bring about a “return to growth” have meant an astonishing economic contraction and a reduction in real incomes. Real national output has contracted by 12.5%, but that conceals a bigger slump in the day-to-day economy. Nominal gross national product (GNP) has fallen by 22%. Consumer demand is down a third. Unemployment at 14.3 per cent is misleadingly low - with no work to be had many young people have emigrated – some to work on the tar sands of Alberta.

It is already a deeper depression than the 1930s. Public sector pay has already been cut 14% on average (with a pension levy), rising to 30% for the top managers. Entry-level jobs for graduates at the big four accounting firms have dropped by a third to €21,000. Office rental costs in Dublin have halved, and house prices are down 53%.

In common with the other 16 countries, membership of the eurozone meant that a currency devaluation to improve its export potential wasn’t possible. So Ireland was forced into an internal devaluation of the cost of labour, slashing wages, salaries, pensions and public sector spending.

The second wave of the global crisis is now underway with a vengeance. As the economies of Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal disintegrate, Ireland’s people will be in the firing line again. The Fine Gael/Labour coalition is already slashing deeper into living standards.

As a concept, “ethical capitalism” is more about theology than political economy. The bottom line is necessarily the primary concern of an economic system based on profit which in turn demands continuous growth. This is how the Protestant ethic works out in practice in present-day society.

In the end, a moral shift here or there can make no difference to dealing with a profound, historic and fundamental crisis of the system of production itself. The pressing debate to be held within the occupation and strike movements is on developing not-for-profit sustainable alternatives and how we get from A to B.

Gerry Gold

Economics editor

Their morals and ours

Teaching a fish to ride a bicycle. That’s how even a Daily Telegraph reader describes the pipedream of making the City of London, bankers et al act in some kind of “ethical” way.

And that is a lot more down to earth than Labour leader Ed Miliband, who says that the campaigners at St Paul’s and Finsbury Square reflect “a crisis of concern for millions of people about the biggest issue of our time: the gap between their values and the way our country is run”.

In a patronising and devious way, Miliband implies that the protesters have nothing better to do than camp outside St Paul’s. He opines that the problem is “a system of irresponsible, predatory capitalism based on the short term, rather than productive, responsible behaviour which benefits business and most people in the long term”.

Using the word “values” no fewer than nine times, he calls for “big changes in the way our country works”. But in case anyone is deluded into thinking that Labour has suddenly become hostile to capitalism, he proposes – sharp intake of breath – to “tell the top CEOs that if they are unwilling to justify their rewards – they will not get it”.

So, for the Labour leader, the problem is NOT that there is a huge divide in society between a tiny minority of super rich and the rest of us. The rich have just not worked hard enough to prove that “they are worth it”!

Miliband is simply trying to cash in on the widespread support for the occupations in the City of London and around the world – and to channel it into the safe vehicle of Labour electoral politics. In his dreams!

Along with the CEOs and some bankers, many of whom have admitted they are overpaid, he is worried that things are spinning out of control, ideologically speaking.

The conflicting views amongst those who are supposed to look after morals and values are deepening by the day. On Saturday former St Paul’s Canon Giles Fraser, who resigned over the cathedral’s lack of support for the occupation, said:

"St Paul's Cathedral is built on a deep theological fault line. On the one hand it's set within the boiler room of global capitalism, and on the other it proclaims a theological story that has some pretty fierce things to say about money and wealth.” He was joined by the Archbishop of York of York in denouncing the super rich and unbridled greed.

The history of capitalism in Britain has seen the established church, politicians and the heads of finance and industry working together to keep the lid on discontent and maintain at least a semblance of control over things.

And that is why the church and the City are working might and main to “bridge the differences between the protesters and the City”, as Ken Costa, former chair of Lazards International, puts it.

Costa claims that “the market economy has shifted from its moral foundations with disastrous consequences. I cannot recall when public feeling worldwide has run so high.”

Costa has been asked to work on a “form of ethical capitalism”. He has come up with a far more shocking proposal than Miliband could ever align himself with.

The ex-banker says that “maximising shareholder value” cannot continue to be the sole criteria or object for all companies.

But making profits is the very basis – the bottom line - of capitalism as an economic system. These are the system’s actual “moral foundations”, its heart. A kinder, more caring, not-for-profit ethical capitalism has never existed – and never can.

Yes we need a moral compass and a set of values. But we should reject as hypocritical and compromised those the ruling elites constantly try to impose on us. An alternative set of values and a progressive moral outlook is to be found in the growing numbers of people around the world who seek a democratic future free from corporate power. It really is a case of their morals and ours.

Corinna Lotz

A World to Win secretary

Power to the G7 billion, not the G20

The General Assembly of Occupy LSX has called for a global debate about a very different future to the one leaders gathering for the G20 in Cannes are planning.

As the G20 big nations discuss how to impose the full weight of the economic crisis on the backs of first Greek, and then all other working class people across the globe, LSX unanimously agreed these four points:

1. Our global system is unsustainable. It is undemocratic and unjust, driven by profit in the interest of the few.

2. An economic system based on infinite growth, but which relies on finite resources, is leading humanity and the environment to destruction. As long as this system remains in place, people of the world continue to suffer from an increasingly unfair share of income and wealth.

3. We seek a global system that is democratic, just and sustainable. The world’s resources must not go to the military or corporate profit, but instead go towards caring for people’s needs: water, food, housing, education, health, community.

4. An international, global collaboration has started, and is working on a statement that will unite the occupy movements across the world in their struggle for an alternative that is focused on and originates from people and their environment.

Ragnhild Dale, who was involved in drafting the statement, said: “We reject the G20 as a valid forum for decision making. It is unjust, unaccountable, lacks transparency and continues to promote a global economic system that is fundamentally unsustainable. We want to create real dialogue and debate, which isn’t happening at the G20. We invite everyone to join us in creating a global statement that reflects the combined voices of the 99 per cent who aren’t at the G20, so that we can realise real change.”

Jamie Arad, supporter of OccupyLSX, added: “We ask questions that the G20 will never ask, such as why are decisions that affect 7 billion people made by a powerful elite behind closed doors? Why do we rely on a global economic system based on infinite growth when we know that the world’s resources are finite? Why do we assume the G20 can be trusted to put people and sustainable living before profits and corporate interests?"

You might say, well so what? Just 500 people in a churchyard – more people work in just one of the arrogant skyscrapers that surround LSX's old tents and handmade banners. But they are 500 people showing leadership, pointing a way forward – not back to European war, mass unemployment and hunger as in the 1930s. They speak for the interests of millions.

And in the United States, similar messages are coming through. In Oakland, California, 15,000 people brought the entire city to a standstill yesterday. Demanding equality and an end to police brutality, the occupation movement not only took back space they were driven out of last week - they called for a General Strike and, broadly speaking, got it. Schools, businesses and even more important, Oakland's container port closed down. Workers coming on shift turned back, some parking up to join the occupation.

Oakland's police and politicians who unleashed terror on the citizens last week, were nowhere to be seen. Of course, that doesn't mean the fight is over - it is just beginning. But the decision of big unions to support the occupy movement gave them pause for thought.

Occupations run by Assemblies are test beds, showing what people can do when they are independent and liberated. A network of People’s Assemblies can widen this movement to the whole of society, giving it a concrete form that can appeal to all those under attack from capitalism.

Assemblies can facilitate a transition to a democratic society based on co-operation and self-determination instead of profit and corporate power. They will disprove in action the lie that there is no alternative to the capitalist system and the states/local government bodies that serve it. Go here to read more about People's Assemblies and how they can change the world.

Penny Cole
Contributing editor

Crisis in the cathedral

The resignation of the dean of St Paul’s over the occupation outside his front door tells us a great deal about the deepening ideological crisis inside the establishment and the fragility of its institutions.

Graeme Knowles quit because he simply couldn’t bear the criticism that followed the cathedral’s decision to align itself with the medieval City of London Corporation’s legal moves to clear the area of tents and people. Last week he lost his canon, Giles Fraser, and another senior cleric who took an opposite stand.

The dean is so elevated in the church hierarchy that whoever fills the position requires the approval of the queen herself. So Knowles’ decision to quit is no small matter, leaving a vacuum temporarily filled by the hard-line bishop of London.

St Paul’s wanted to look both ways. Being adjacent to the stock exchange, from which the occupation movement was barred, and within spitting distance of a financial artery of global capitalism, it tried dialogue between God and Mammon.

But the accumulation of wealth is not and will never be a moral question, not principally one of greed or corruption – although they play their part. The financial system has deeper structural foundations in the nature of capitalism itself, in the relentless, unstoppable drive for profit.

The dialogue has come to an abrupt halt. The cathedral is with Mammon, as historically it always has been. The Church of England is the established church for good reasons. It has, with a few dissenters along the way, sanctified monarchy, privilege, war and colonialism in its time.

“What would Jesus do”, reads one banner outside St Paul’s. He certainly wouldn’t have built great monuments like cathedrals to hold people in awe and watch while the church became part of the established order. But that’s another story.

No doubt the benefactors of St Paul’s in the shape of the City’s institutions played a role in preventing publication last week of a report by the cathedral into corporate and financial excess. It would have only inflamed the occupation.

Nevertheless, the right-wing press is enraged by the laughing stock St Paul’s has become. First it shut its doors on secret “health and safety” grounds; then it reopened them to tourists willing to cough up £14.50 to get in. Now the dean can’t stand the heat and has departed.

As Mark Field, Tory MP for Cities of London and Westminster, remarked: “The whole thing is farcical. You couldn’t make it up. It’s gone from the sublime to the ridiculous… Ironically, the only capitalist organisation that has lost out is St Paul’s. I suspect that these resignations will only ensure that these protesters become more entrenched.”

The disarray at the top of society is to be welcomed. Every crack, every rupture weakens the ideological edifice that helps to hold people in check, to convince working people that life is fate, that capitalism is the centre of the known universe and will remain so eternally. Amen.

We are pushing at an open door and the occupation movement should lift its horizons to take advantage of the tumult within the state and its institutions. This furore is the product of a profound, historical crisis in global capitalism which august bodies like the International Labour Organisation fear will produce social confrontation in many countries.

As the occupation at St Paul’s originally insisted, the system is unsustainable and undemocratic. Even if you could – and it’s a big if – open up the way the City of London Corporation functions, for example, what difference would that make? None.

The way forward is through the people’s assemblies concept, turning them from street meetings into permanent structures in every community that can eventually become the basis of a new sovereign, democratic power. Our focus has to be on deep-going structural political and economic change that takes us beyond capitalism and profit.

Paul Feldman

Communications editor

Getting from A to B

A key discussion taking place within the global occupation movement is what kind of “demands” (if any) should be made and who they should be addressed to (if anyone). This conundrum gets to the heart of the matter.

Many drawn to the continuing actions on Wall Street and in the City of London, and to massive rallies in Madrid and other countries, have been driven to the streets precisely by the serial failure of existing political channels.

The self-evident convergence between the state, mainstream political parties, corporate and financial power has angered increasing numbers of people. What limited democracy there was has been sold to the highest bidder.

Banks form an orderly queue for state bail-outs, energy suppliers let prices rip, public services like health and education are turned into commodities, corporate lobbyists have direct access to ministers, pensions are reduced and employment rights undermined.

On the other side, the mounting grievances of ordinary people about their jobs, housing, incomes, education, health and human rights are ignored. This is the price we have to pay, we are told, for the economic crisis.

The crisis is, naturally, presented as an act of God, something beyond human control. This is deliberate mystification. It is intended to obscure the fact that the disaster is the product of an unstable, unsustainable, capitalist system of production for profit, fuelled by mountains of debt.

So as no one in authority is listening, the occupations and marches for real democracy are presented with an apparent contradiction. There is no point making “demands” of the existing powers, yet a statement of aims and aspirations is absolutely vital to garner support and build the movement.

The initial statement from the St Paul’s occupation in London reflects the dilemma. The starting point – “the current system is unsustainable. It is undemocratic and unjust” – is dead right. The system – political, economic and financial – is the problem, not the solution.

The focus is, or should be, entirely on changing the system and not appealing to existing power and governments to do what they can’t/won’t do. However, point 5 about appealing to regulators to regulate properly and part of point 8 about urging governments to stop oppressing people, tends towards a reform of a status quo which is well passed its use-by date.

Of course, incorporating system change into a set of demands wouldn’t by itself resolve the apparent impasse (although it would be a step forward). If we are to avoid placing demands on existing powers, we should try and suggest an alternative. One way forward is through People’s Assemblies as a transition to a new, real democracy (see details about an open event this Saturday, the 22nd).

Our new flyer says: “Occupations run by assemblies are test beds, showing what people can do when they are independent and liberated. A network of People’s Assemblies can widen this to the whole of society, giving it a concrete form that can appeal to all those under attack from capitalism.

“Assemblies can facilitate a transition to a democratic society based on co-operation and self-determination instead of profit and corporate power. They will disprove in action the lie that there is no alternative to the capitalist system and the states/local government bodies that serve it.”

In the end, it has to be about getting from A to B, transcending capitalism as a social system, replacing alienating, oppressive, undemocratic power structures with new democratic forms. Millions of people now see that there is something fundamentally wrong with the system. On October 15, their anger produced the first global day of action in the history of the world. Let’s take it on from there.

Paul Feldman

Communications editor

System is 'unsustainable', says Occupy LSX

“This is what democracy looks like,” says the first statement agreed by the mass assembly of 500 held yesterday outside St Paul’s Cathedral in the City of London.

Indeed, the camp in the heart of London’s financial district has become the site of a mass discussion about the way forward in the global struggle for democracy against corporate and financial power as well as the political system itself.

The London occupation began as one of thousands held around the world on October 15, including huge rallies and demonstrations in Madrid, Rome, across the United States, Israel and Palestine.

Inspired by the Wall Street occupation, a large green banner at St Paul’s pronounced “We are the 99%” and on Sunday a new banner appeared, saying “Capitalism is Crisis”. The tent village in front of the cathedral is now drawing into its third day, despite increasingly cold weather.

Young people from around Britain have joined with seasoned campaigners from across the world to go beyond one-off protests to assert an alternative to established political channels which they feel do not represent them. “They have cut off all our avenues for protest,” as one participant said.

The assembly on the cathedral steps collectively agreed on an initial nine point statement which emphasises the unsustainability of the current system and demands “structural change towards authentic global equality”.

A call for the setting up of People' Assemblies throughout the country, and directly for the aim of a new “constitutional settlement so that people were in control” put by democracy campaigner Mark Barrett was warmly received.

Saturday’s rally of around 2,500 was entirely peaceful as the occupiers tried to enter Paternoster Square where the stock exchange is located. Hundreds of police, including Forward Intelligence Teams and helicopters circling above, cordoned off access to the square.

In the event, the tree-shaded area in front of St Paul’s Cathedral has provided a dramatic and safe setting, thanks to the intervention of Canon Giles Fraser who appeared outside the church after a police cordon tried to force demonstrators away and told the police they were not needed.

The camp is now well-organised with neat streets of individual tents, many with handmade placards pinned on them. They are backed up by mobile toilets, a food station with piles of bananas, water bottles, donated tins, plus information, media, medical areas and even a “Starbooks” library tent.

Teams are responsible for cleanliness. The occupiers and passers are entertained by live music. Groups meet in circles to debate what the aims of the occupation are and how to achieve them.

Organisers include Facebook groups Occupy LSX, 15O Unite for Global Change, Occupy London Stock Exchange camp, Take the Square and it is supported by Spanish Real Democracy Now campaigners, People’s Assembly Network, UK Uncut, A World to Win, Right to Work campaign and People’s Assembly London.

A flyer issued by United for #global democracy demands “global governance by the people, for the people, inspired by our sisters and brothers in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Bahrain, New York, Palestine-Israel, Spain and Greece” and called for regime change.

The #OccupyLSX’s initial statement calls for support for the 30 November strike and student action on 9 November, but the trade unions, who are in the Coalition government’s firing line have been noticeable only by their total absence.

Going outside and beyond the existing political parties and trade unions to assert an independent democratic movement – and connecting it with the anti-dictatorship movements of the Arab Spring – is a huge step in the right direction.

Let the jaded cynics and dogmatists carp as they like. History is leaving them behind. As one demonstrator said: “We are going through a great awakening: everyone is waking up and discovering the true power of humanity. We don’t need to be treated like this any more - we are moving into a new age – and we want our futures back.”

How to achieve this aim is central to the event this Saturday, People’s Assemblies to People’s Power. Everyone is welcome to join in the dialogue at Passing Clouds Collective.

Corinna Lotz

A World to Win secretary