RUTHLESS
CRITICISM
“If we have no
business with the construction of the future or with organizing it for
all time, there can still be no doubt about the task confronting us at
present: the ruthless criticism of the existing order, ruthless in that
it will shrink neither from its own discoveries, nor from conflict with
the powers that be.” — Karl Marx
Wealth & poverty
What can be learned from Karl Marx about wealth in capitalismThe misanthropic and absurd logic of the capitalist economy
“Real” value: Comments on the “labor theory of value” and the wealth of capitalist society
Why labor as the source and measure of value is nothing to celebrate
What is poverty?
Capitalism requires it, and constantly increases it
Why the call for “fair distribution” is a mistakeThe rich becoming richer is not a result of distribution – it's the precondition under which we work and live
Unconditional basic income –
Is poverty “simply outmoded”?A fatal error about the nature of work and wealth in this society.
Money -> more money
Money
Not participation in wealth, but exclusion from it
Profit – good or bad?Or not a moral category?
“Growth”The increase of private wealth
Where does the surplus over the costs advanced actually come from?
Unpaid labor
The free market fairy tale that profit creates jobs
“Layoffs despite profits!” – Why “despite”?
On the highly praised accomplishments of filthy lucre
The irrational and unnecessary mode of production that money puts in motion
Finance capital
Finance capital: The character, achievement and power of financeLoaning money to make more money
Five lessons from a one-week stock market crashWhy do losses on the stock market negatively affect “all of us” when booms don’t have positive effects for “all of us”?
Scolding the speculatorsBlaming Wall Street while upholding the free market economy
Crisis
What is a crisis?
The accumulation of too much wealth in relation to the purpose of accumulating more of it
Lessons from the crisisIs the revival of this madness something to hope for?
[Audio] Lessons from the “Great Recession”Ignore at your own peril
Management
Do CEOs get paid too much?Income inequality in capitalism – a totally wrong question
Management bonusesHow to shake up and restore a sense of fairness in a company
Letter: Do workers create all wealth?
Then what is the role of bosses in capitalism?
Business big & small
“Mega-mergers” – Capital concentration on a global scale
Size as a weapon of competition
“Exploitation” at Amazon?
What’s so scandalous about the normal and successful use of wage labor for profit?
Small business – “Our” problem childCapital in need wants our concern and sympathy
“Predators” attack capitalism!Enron, Worldcom, Xerox ... perversions of capitalism?
Auto capital
Wage reduction: Made in the USAAuto capital eliminates its human dead weight
Crisis hits the auto industryA didactic drama about jobs
VW’s “Dieselgate”
Das Auto: a showcase industry and global business with state support
“Cash for clunkers”A spotlight
on the role of the consumer in capitalism
IT capital
The career of the internetA tool and a weapon
Industry 4.0A big step forward for the internet and the competition over who owns it
Digitization and the dollarOn some recent advances in the competition between states ...
Rent & landed property
Landed property and the housing question in capitalism
Why is a place to live still an unaffordable luxury for so many people after all these years of capitalist growth?
World market
Lessons on international tradeIts not so you can have tropical fruit and coffee
“Fair trade” – The capitalist world market
as a challenge to the consumer's moralityHow to ignore the economic logic of factory disasters in Bngladesh
What the world economic crisis teaches about capitalismWhen speculative failures cause the material reproduction of entire continents to collapse