Sunday 25 December 2011

A Very Chomsky Christmas

Santa Claus is portrayed as a paternal manifestation of the welfare state which will benevolently give gifts to all without regard. Nothing could be further from the truth. In reality the biggest gift getters are corporate executives, getting both outright grants and tax breaks while their employees are lucky to get a lump of coal.  Instead, most people will be shopping at these big chain stores, which make tremendous profit by preferential and illegal exclusionary deals. These stores are supposedly operating in a free market but it's anything but that. Further, the volume of their transactions means that within their organizations, they are a virtual command economy, a totalitarian top-down structure with no democratic input from their workers.

At this time of increasing sales volume, many are staffed by temporary workers, who have no benefits or health insurance and can't afford to get sick. And there's not going to be a good-hearted Scrooge to pay for your operation like he did for Tiny Tim. God bless us, every one. We'll need it.

From here. Merry Christmas, everybody!

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