Wage Slavery

My first diagnosis of all that ills our society: Capitalism. OK, not an especially novel or creative diagnosis. One might even say this view has been consigned to the dustbin of history. I hope to pull myself out, though, with a better alternative than state socialism. There is no denying the creative power and efficiency of the market. A decentralized economy, with private firms, is the only way to go. It's not private property that's the problem, it's who owns the property. Companies should belong to their employees. Think about what employee ownership would entail. 1) Much less outsourcing. People will strongly resist sending their own jobs overseas. 2) Full employment over profits. When cuts have to be made, when economic times are tough, firms will cut profits rather than lay people off. 3) Better environmental and safety behavior. Employees tend to live where they work, and they are the ones who suffer from poor working conditions. More generally, employee ownership recognizes the fact that a job is more than a paycheck-- an employee's relationship with their company (at least a career employee's) goes beyond the wage. One's job is a source of identity, and company loyalty should be more than just a ploy by management to extract more value from the workers. So, workers' compensation should be in terms of shares of the company. The people who supply the capital should be paid the wage (interest). End wage slavery now!