Toxic Capitalism

I am reading a fascinating new book, Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism and the World, by Malcolm Harris. I haven't finished it yet, but the history it describes is compelling, and much I didn't know. I studied history in college (mostly European) and I had always thought it would be interesting to study the rise and fall of organizations, companies, how they grew and thrived.

This book is the history of California, specifically Palo Alto, Stanford, and Silicon Valley. I am about a quarter of the way through, and I am shocked at how much I am learning. While I may disagree with the author's theme that capitalism is the root of all evil, I think he has some good points. His challenge is that he sees the world in black and white, good and bad. I am not going to go all Gordon Gekko and say "Greed is good," but the money put into innovation can give this world amazing things.

That being said, I now believe in Toxic Capitalism, according to my own definition. Does a company or an organization do the following:

• Was genocide or slavery involved in the production of goods?
• Were land and other resources stolen from a group or state? 
• Did the company creating the product clean up their own mess, or did they leave that to others? Can the mess even be cleaned or rectified?
• Outside of slavery and genocide, are the people doing the work paid a fair wage? 
• Outside of slavery and genocide, are there reasonably safe working conditions? (I am not talking about fire fighters or others whose jobs are inherently dangerous.)
• If the wages are fair, are the job opportunities open to more than the dominant power class? Does the company hire women, LGBTQ people, people of color, etc, for any position, not just menial labor?
• Does the organization have a responsible plan for how to dispose of the product once its usefulness is done?
• Does the product cause harm to people?

As time goes on, I think of more things to add to the list. 

Here is my thought: Can we have Responsible Capitalism? Can we produce goods and have innovation that doesn't hurt people or the planet? 

Claire-Adele was recently in Denmark and Sweden, home to some of the happiest people in the world. the social safety net there is remarkable, and as a result, people feel safe and secure. Is this purely a Robin Hood case of steal from the rich and give to the poor? Not exactly. The poor might be given a roof over their heads, but the country also works to see that people have meaningful work. Claire-Adele told me about a small town in Sweden that used to be a ship building. When the industry went away, the country decided to support the town and see what else could be done there. The town had a ferry that was a portal to the rest of Europe, bringing in goods. Then they built a bridge, so the ferry business went under, and the town was re-invented a third time. (I don't recall the details of this incarnation.) 

Can we have Compassionate Capitalism? Can we have Kind Capitalism?

As I have Returned to Office, I realize that big businesses also need small businesses. I work for a large corporation, but I need to eat lunch near my office, and get coffee and breakfast. I might need to run an errand or two on my lunch break. These small mom-and-pop shops make working downtown not just tolerable, but pleasant and fun. (I don't want to say all big businesses are bad and all small businesses are good, but big companies have a bigger footprint so the impact of their toxicity is greater.)

I guess I feel like Responsible Capitalism could be called "Mom Capitalism," as Toxic Capitalism feels like the world is run by punk-ass teenage boys. I am not convinced we need to get rid of capitalism, but perhaps we just need the capitalists to grow up.