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Sunday, April 07, 2013

Capitalism's logic

It could only happen under capitalism.


Hundreds of poor people waiting outside of a closing down grocery store for the possibility of getting some of the remaining food. They filled the parking lot with bags and baskets hoping to get some of the baby food, canned goods, noodles and other non-perishables. The new owners of the store, SunTrust Bank ordered the food to be loaded into dumpsters and sent to a landfill instead of distributed. People had to be restrained by police as they saw perfectly good food destroyed. The supermarket is one of the poorest in the state with a poverty rate of 41 percent.

In a capitalist society, the motive behind the production of food is not to feed people, housing is not made to give them shelter, clothing is not made to keep them warm, and health care is not offered primarily to keep people healthy. All of these things, which are and should be viewed as basic rights, are nothing other than commodities—to be bought and sold—from which to make a profit. If a profit cannot be made the commodity is considered useless by the capitalist and destroyed.

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