Robert Reich, currently professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley has written another book. This one is titled Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business Democracy and Everyday Life.
Supercapitalism is an important book and should be widely read. In particular, it should be read by Bacon’s Rebellion columnists and those who post and comment on Bacons Rebellion Blog. Why? Because the book addresses an issue central to any discussion of economic, social and physical ramifications of the road ahead.
Supercapitalism will not a ‘best seller’ or a favorite of the Bacon’s Rebellion Corps for reasons we outline below.
Reich has a simple message:
Consumers and investors in the US of A – and the First World in general – are far better off than individuals and Households have been in any society in history. Most have done especially well consuming and some have done exceedingly well financially over the last 3-plus decades.
On the other hand, individuals in their role as citizens have had a very difficult time over this same time period. Further, the quality and effectiveness of the democratic governance structure under which they live has eroded badly.
Reich has the data to back up these assertions. As it turns out, when one strips away the self-serving puffery and pandering rhetoric these realities are broadly agreed to across academic, political and economic spectra.
Reich does a splendid job of providing an economic overview of the US of A since the Civil War as he outlines how citizens got to the post WW II era which he calls “The Almost Golden Age.” Reich then describes how and why that era morphed after 1973 into what he calls “supercapitalism.”
Reich dismantles a number of illusions concerning why some individuals and some ideologies are credited with “economic miracles” along the way. These changes were underway long before the hero jumped on the bandwagon. He also put in their place a number of ogres like “greed.
[We will be adding three new columns to THE ESTATES MATRIX (V 2.0) – for the years 1870, 1920 and 1973 – that reflect some of his important insights. Yes, one of the reasons we like Supercapitalism is that it tracks so well with THE ESTATES MATRIX.]
To his credit, beyond documenting reality, Reich offers a simple “solution” to a key driver of economic and democracy dysfunction. His suggestion makes eminent good sense. Reich also provides a number of ideas which may make it into the platform of a presidential candidate. This is a startling accomplishment for a book dealing with a topic as complex as the future of democracy and market economies.
With this much going for it, why is Supercapitalism not on the way up the ‘best seller’ list?
One reason that a book that explores a subject of this nature may be unpopular is that it is long and hard to understand. That is not the problem with Reich’s book. It is only 223 pages plus end notes and index, even with large print and generous line spacing. What is more, if succinctly written, Reich’s core ideas could be well expressed in 50 pages or less. Of course, writing an essay / working paper would not meet the criteria for a “book” and would not make the publisher or the author as much money. This fact presents an ironic twist of Reich’s basic thesis on what is wrong with capitalism and democracy.
Reich makes simple, straight forward points and expresses them well. He then goes on to cite example after example that pound home the lesson from each of six chapters. Having this wealth of supporting data is a luxury afforded to those who dwell in ivy towers and have grad students and post docs to gather material and research budgets for processing, digesting and editing that material.
So what are the problems with Supercapitalism if it is not that it is long or hard to understand?
Best selling books either make readers feel good or they identify bad guys.
There is not much to feel good about from a clear eyed review of the economic, social and physical trajectory of contemporary society.
Villains sell books because they provide some thing or some one to get mad at.
There being no basis for a feel-good story line, the primary problem with the Supercapitalism becomes the fact that Reich identifies no villain.
In Supercapitalism there are no villains – unless one looks in the mirror. Pogo’s Epiphany applied to the state of the economy and democracy will not sell books.
Reich points out with chilling clarity the conflict within individuals between their roles as consumers and investors and their role as citizens. He calls this conflict “being of two minds.”
The villain vacuum compounds a reality that Tony Downs – the denizen of Real Estate Research and later The Brookings Institution – liked to spotlight in the context of Mobility and Access. Tony pointed out that:
In a democracy, it is very hard to get those who benefit individually from a course of action to support changes which will benefit society-as-a-whole but will limit or eliminate their own individual advantage or benefit.
We explore this issue in depth in The Shape of the Future in the context of “What is good for one is not good for all.” An urban dwelling on a five or 10 acre lot is the human settlement pattern poster child of this axiom. In the book this reality is termed “The Fallacy of Composition.” That is the term Robert Samuelson used to describe this core problem with capitalism and democracy.
[Those who want to use the “find” utility of the Adobe Reader to search The Shape of the Future for the relevant passages, key in “The Fallacy of Composition.”]
The second problem with Supercapitalism’s lack of popularity is that there will be those who find this book distasteful, not because of what the book actually says but, because of who wrote it. Zealots knowing that Reich is a self-declared “liberal” who taught at Harvard, served as Labor Secretary in the Clinton administration and is a backer of Barack Obama are likely to believe they must reject out of hand whatever Reich might have to say.
It would appear however, if those who occupy any station along the many and varied political / ideological continua that intersect the Economic Sphere are honest with themselves they would agree with almost everything that Reich says in this book.
OK, “some” can find “problems” with any statement as the Blogisphere and this Blog document. Let us just say contrarians would find it hard to locate evidence that refutes Reich’s key observations.
The confounding reality for the ideologues – and this is the same issue that arises with 12 ½ Percenters vis a vis strategies to evolve functional human settlement patterns – if they agree with Reich, they undermine many of the positions they have taken in the past with respect to economic, social and physical activities.
If Supercapitalism starts to move up the best seller lists, it will be attacked in MainStream Media by editors and talking heads because the book challenges the fundamental idea of Mass OverConsumption. Never mind that if democracies with market economies are to be preserved, the trajectory of the Mass OverConsumption-driven economy and society must be changed.
[See APPENDIX ONE: “Disorienting ‘News’ On Citizen Well Being” APPENDIX ONE in “GOOD NEWS: What MainStream Media Is, and Is Not, Telling Us.” [Link in 5 March 2008 Jim Bacon post “Good News, Bad Reporting” on this Blog.]
Are there shortcomings in Reich’s book?
Yes, three stand out.
First there is the core malady of Geographic Illiteracy. This is especially problematic in Reich’s discussion of large public corporations that have direct impact on creating dysfunctional human settlement patterns – Wal*Mart for example. See “Learning From Big Boxes, PART III of THE PROBLEM WITH CARS. [Forthcoming]
Reich makes no reference to, or connection between, Wal*Mart actions and dysfunctional human settlement patterns. What Reich’s ideas desperately need is a New Urban Region Conceptual Framework – or some other comprehensive distribution-of-human-activity conceptual framework – that will facilitate an understanding of the economic and social impacts of the actions that he portrays and the solutions that he outlines.
The second short coming with the Reich book also makes it harder than it needs to be to get across the importance of the core message of Supercapitalism. Reich does not have an overarching conceptual framework for the major organizing forces of society.
Chapter Six (“A Citizen’s Guide to Supercapitalism”) cries out for a clear way to distinguish the differences between the interests of Enterprises (the Second Estate) and citizens (the Fourth Estate).
Reich may or may not agree with the context established for Agencies, Enterprises, Institutions and Citizens / Households in THE ESTATE MATRIX. However, if he does not, then he needs to come up with an alternative because without a conceptual framework for discussing these issues it is easy to fall into a wasteland of babble with every reader applying their own definition in the best tradition of Humpty Dumpty.
The third and final shortcoming is that Reich suggests that a comprehensive “solution” to evolving a functional democracy in the 21st century is possible without a Fundamental Change in governance structure. His one simple idea about the nature of corporations is a great start, but it is just a start.
Were the book rewritten it could be easily absorbed in an hour. But the need for a conceptual framework with consistent vocabulary to spotlight the importance of human settlement patterns and the need for something like THE ESTATES MATRIX to illustrate the difference between the interests of citizens from the interests / driving forces of Enterprises (and in interests / driving forces of Agencies and Institutions) would be critical to making his arguments so powerful that they could not be ignored, even if unpopular.
Readers of this brief review will note that we did not go into detail on the conflict between individuals as consumers and investors and individuals as citizens. We also did not divulge the clear, elegant threshold solution Reich presents for a key driver of dysfunction or the specific ideas that may end up in Barack Obama’s platform.
Why?
It would be a good idea for you to read Supercapitalism yourself.
EMR