12.22.2009

democracy v. capitalism...

personally, i'm in favor of democracy, which means that the central institutions of society have to be under popular control. now, under capitalism, we can't have democracy by definition. capitalism is a system in which the central institutions of society are in principle under autocratic control. thus, a corporation or an industry is, if we were to think of it in political terms, fascist; that is, it has tight control at the top and strict obedience has to be established at every level--there's little bargaining, a little give and take, but the line of authority is perfectly straightforward. just as i'm opposed to political fascism, i'm opposed to economic fascism. i think that until the major institutions of society are under the popular control of participants and communities, it's pointless to talk about democracy// noam chomsky

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