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Consequences of Capitalism: Manufacturing Discontent and Resistance by Marv Waterstone, Noam Chomsky
lawstudentwhoreads24's review against another edition
3.0
3 ⭐️
An interesting book that was based on a mini-series of lectures.
tanja_alina_berg's review against another edition
5.0
This book is based on a series of lectures held by Noam Chomsky and Marv Waterstone. It's the most scathing criticism that I have read about neo-liberalistic policy. I'm a liberal leftie and despite this - or maybe because of it - I was shocked. After all, it's my firm belief that the neoliberalistic take on capitalism is the root of most of this world's evil. This book confirms it, rubs it in with salt.
Since "socialist capitalism" was abandoned in favor of neoliberalism, the average worker has not had any participation in the wealth generated by increased productivity since the end of the 1970's. All the billions of dollar in increased wealth has gone into the pocket of the very few, and what have they done with it? Bought politicians, basically. Tweaked and reshaped democracy to their wishes, to the detriment of all. You see, neoliberalism only thinks that that the "free hand" of the market should operate without government interference as long as things go well, and for people further down the ladder. When things go side-ways, the "nanny states" step in to save financial institutions from going under, and this has happened repeatedly.
Just take the financial crisis of 2007/2008, when some clever financial institutions repackaged subprime loans into fancy derivates and sold them as investment prospects, well aware that the loans could never be fulfilled. When it all went to hell, the government stepped in and bailed out several institutions. What did they do with the money? They paid bonuses to the bosses - the very people who had created the situation in the first place. The retirement funds for the common worker, that went to hell, that wasn't a commitment it was necessary to keep.
Actually, the financial crisis of 2007-2008 also destroyed my retirement. Rather than having a lucrative, life-long retirement paid by the company I work for, in addition to the bread crumbs from the Norwegian state, it's now all based on investments funds and will depend on whatever is in that. That's because the long-term interest based obligations funds went to hell with the zero interest rates caused by this crisis. Of course nearly every government jumped on the band wagon, not waiting to see if there would be any change. Am I bitter? Absolutely! This last paragraph isn't from this book though, but from "The Price of Time" by Edward Chancellor.
Anyway, returning to this book. It shows how devastating the results from our current type of capitalism is for everyone except the top 0,01%. How democracy is being whittled away, our environments destroyed, the work life for the working class unbearable. It also shows how it's important to have an imagined enemy to wage war against, just to take the public's attention away from the real problems in front of their noses.
I cannot do this book justice. It's perfect. It's one of those few books where I come to the end and think "again, I have to read it again". Read it!
Since "socialist capitalism" was abandoned in favor of neoliberalism, the average worker has not had any participation in the wealth generated by increased productivity since the end of the 1970's. All the billions of dollar in increased wealth has gone into the pocket of the very few, and what have they done with it? Bought politicians, basically. Tweaked and reshaped democracy to their wishes, to the detriment of all. You see, neoliberalism only thinks that that the "free hand" of the market should operate without government interference as long as things go well, and for people further down the ladder. When things go side-ways, the "nanny states" step in to save financial institutions from going under, and this has happened repeatedly.
Just take the financial crisis of 2007/2008, when some clever financial institutions repackaged subprime loans into fancy derivates and sold them as investment prospects, well aware that the loans could never be fulfilled. When it all went to hell, the government stepped in and bailed out several institutions. What did they do with the money? They paid bonuses to the bosses - the very people who had created the situation in the first place. The retirement funds for the common worker, that went to hell, that wasn't a commitment it was necessary to keep.
Actually, the financial crisis of 2007-2008 also destroyed my retirement. Rather than having a lucrative, life-long retirement paid by the company I work for, in addition to the bread crumbs from the Norwegian state, it's now all based on investments funds and will depend on whatever is in that. That's because the long-term interest based obligations funds went to hell with the zero interest rates caused by this crisis. Of course nearly every government jumped on the band wagon, not waiting to see if there would be any change. Am I bitter? Absolutely! This last paragraph isn't from this book though, but from "The Price of Time" by Edward Chancellor.
Anyway, returning to this book. It shows how devastating the results from our current type of capitalism is for everyone except the top 0,01%. How democracy is being whittled away, our environments destroyed, the work life for the working class unbearable. It also shows how it's important to have an imagined enemy to wage war against, just to take the public's attention away from the real problems in front of their noses.
I cannot do this book justice. It's perfect. It's one of those few books where I come to the end and think "again, I have to read it again". Read it!
benwendt's review against another edition
dark
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
redheadedstepchyld's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Noam Chomsky and Marv Waterstone do a wonderful job in this collection of lectures where they highlight various events throughout America's History with Capitalism and how the results have been disastrous for this country and the world. Anyone unsatisfied with the status quo or wondering why things in America are so bad right now should give this a read. It really is just all Capitalism's fault.