Recently I've been highlighting the mindset of John McCain's economic advisors. Today, instead of beating up on them as individuals, I'd like to beat up on one their core ideas: the "genius of the market" and privatization. I've chosen three examples:
- Mercenaries
There is something deeply disturbing when a country uses mercenaries to maintain its imperial reach. Just as the British used Hessians during the Revolutionary War, the American government is increasingly contracting with private firms to perform de facto military/combat duties overseas. While there are a variety of Soldier of Fortune Corporations contracted by the US Government today, Blackwater stands out as a premiere example of the problem with the rent-a-warrior model.
The central problem with Blackwater is the problem more generally with privatization: the private interests of capital run contrary to the shared interests of the polity. The lesson of Iraq is clear: in asymmetrical warfare--and in counter-insurgency efforts--perception and relationships on the ground are critical elements for success. Yet private corporations are compelled by the logic of the market to place the subtle political aspects of warfare and reconstruction well below profits. So, while the American military is working very hard--now--to lessen the perception that they are an occupying force, mercenaries like Blackwater have the opposite effect. The incident on September 16, 2007--while horrific--was simply all of a piece. Sadly, the privatization model for "security services" continues apace--not because we don't recognize the problem, but simply that we now have no alternative.
- Industrial Prisons
The United States today can claim the dubious distinction of having more of its citizens in prison--per capita--than any other nation in the world. As the War on Drugs, Three Strike Laws, Mandatory Sentencing Guidelines, etc, fill our jails and prisons to intolerable levels, states--and the federal government--are increasingly turning to a market-based solution to overcrowding, the private prison. Private prisons can be less expensive--it is argued--because they bring the discipline of the market to bear on the inefficencies of "lax and bloated" government bureaucracies.
How do they do it? First, as a private employer, carceral corporations are freed from the power that strong public employee unions can wield on behalf of their members--prison guards and other prison workers. Consequently, private prisons generally offer much lower salaries and wages than the public sector. Second, private prisons turn to the prisoners as a profit center, a--literally--captive work force. In the private prison's world of panoptican capitalism, the prison functions like a temp or employment agency, contracting prisoners into a variety of industries. Today prisoners in private prisons labor in a variety of workplaces--from old economy manufacturing (clothing, for example), to new economy service jobs (call centers). Like a temp, or employment agency, the private prison is paid to deliver workers to an employer.
The problem should be clear: it is in society's interest to reduce the number of prisoners, while it is in the private prison's interest to increase that number. Interestingly, while crime statistics demonstrate a generally slow-growth pattern, prison populations have risen quickly.
Carceral corporations protect their interests in the usual way, through interlocking directorates, generous and strategic campaign contributions, and direct lobbying of lawmakers. In the world of private prisons, the big names here are Wackenhut and The Corrections Corporation of America. Not surpringly, even a cursory cross-search reveals the incestuous relationships between Congress, the Executive branch, and CEO's and board members of these corporations. Of course, we consistently find these interlocking nodes of political and economic clout within the power elite.
- Outsourcing Democracy: Diebold
This one may be the scariest of all--literally placing the outcome of public elections into the hands of private corporate interests. Could anything be more corrosive to a free society than the queasy suspicion that voting results are being manipulated? Diebold--a large manufacturer of electonic voting systems--is a premiere example of the problem with privatization generally: private interests are not only overseeing the public good, they are writing the terms of that oversight.
Diebold, for example, hides behind the thin scrim of proprietary rights to shield outsiders (election officials) from the inner workings of its magic voting machine. In this exercise of property rights, Diebold (and others) maintain secrecy over the software used to tabulate votes. Indeed, the corporation dictates to election officials what software, and what executable programs (not revealed), will be embedded in their equipment. And they have been repeatedly dishonest as to just what is in their systems. In spite of seemingly sincere assurances that their machines and software are fully protected from tampering, repeated testing--and subsequent testimony--from independent watchdog groups and some government officials (California Secretary of State Debra Bowen, for example) have shown this is simply not the case. Perhaps even more disturbing, top Diebold officials have close and unapologetic ties to George Bush and the Republican Party. In spite of this--and in spite of setbacks to companies like Diebold because of citizen action--the implementation of outsourced elections continues.
At its heart, privatization works against the interests of the public. It creates an interlocking set of interests that benefit from dysfuntion. Hey, I'm not opposed to the market--I'm delighted to have market forces battle it out to bring me a less expensive, more nutritious, and very tasty breakfast cereal. (of course, that then leads to thinking about agribusiness.) I'm just not crazy about the market eroding, or representing, my American values. It's hard to imagine this trend slowing down, all that is solid melts into air. But, it's certainly worth talking about--and struggling against. If there is a McCain administration, the struggle will be all the harder.
OK, too much heavy does it? Here's your much deserved reward, a brief moment of confirmation of your sanity. Trust me, you'll like this one.