Workers-Control-Over-Prod
22nd April 2012, 07:57
A news video from The Economist with the above title inspired me to discuss what this so called "Third Industrial Revolution" means for the capitalist system:
General sectors with nearly fully automated production have problems with finding investments? The Japanese Computer Chip Maker Elpida just now filed for bankruptcy. 2010 there was a Smartphone manufacturing crisis because of the recession and failing investment into chip making; the most up to date (and arguably today's most important) technology being in the back line for investment...?
Why this oddity? Well, it becomes quite clear when you look at the low "Rate of Profit" that these automated sectors have, specifically and most obscenely the chip manufacturing sector. Compare the faltering, automated economic sectors with the sectors or companies that have a High Rate of Profit such as "Apple", and you see what is precisely the crucial difference: High Rate of Profit Companies that do not suffer from investment/supply production problems have "armies" of workers, while Low Rate of Profit sectors are automated and do have these production difficulties.
"Capital is dead labor, which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living labor, and lives the more, the more labor it sucks."-Karl Marx
April 20 2012: "'Apple iPhone 5 delay, Qualcomm chip shortage to blame?'; A supply shortage at chip maker Qualcomm could delay next generation phones including the new iPhone"-Broadband news
February 27 2012: "Computer chipmaker Elpida Memory Inc. filed for Japan's largest manufacturing bankruptcy Monday after amassing debts from nose-diving prices[...]In 2009, Elpida got government emergency aid totaling 30 billion yen ($375 million) in investments through the government-owned Development Bank of Japan. Other Japanese electronics makers have pulled out of the DRAM business."**
April 18 2012: "ASML Holding NV, the largest supplier of manufacturing equipment to computer chip makers, reported Wednesday a 24 percent fall in earnings for the first quarter, as its backlog of orders from big clients such as Intel and Samsung tapered off."-MSN
**Sony, Toshiba, Mitsubishi, Matsushita(Panasonic) have all gone to wage labor cheaper countries, Elpida paid the price of not understanding that technical advancement does not raise profits, but rather replaces exploitable live labor. Notice, social wealth had to be used, the government had to step in to keep the production process going in this highly advanced technological company.
At a certain point of increase of the productive forces, historical economic systems' ways of reproducing and distributing material goods, become outdated and cannot fulfill this productive and distributive duty. They cannot "provide the goods", fulfill human needs, leading to the overthrow of the ruling class that has the predominat social role in production and a historical world change: revolution.
By the way, those companies' current "boom" that are "Surprising Wall Street with their Profits" are in fact doing horribly in light of their "boom" running on debt from the USA's Federal Reserve that is printing a lot of money to let banks feel lax in investing... and it's not working as it should. (Hint: "The Destruction of Capital Value") This is a huge crisis, don't buy their lies.
General sectors with nearly fully automated production have problems with finding investments? The Japanese Computer Chip Maker Elpida just now filed for bankruptcy. 2010 there was a Smartphone manufacturing crisis because of the recession and failing investment into chip making; the most up to date (and arguably today's most important) technology being in the back line for investment...?
Why this oddity? Well, it becomes quite clear when you look at the low "Rate of Profit" that these automated sectors have, specifically and most obscenely the chip manufacturing sector. Compare the faltering, automated economic sectors with the sectors or companies that have a High Rate of Profit such as "Apple", and you see what is precisely the crucial difference: High Rate of Profit Companies that do not suffer from investment/supply production problems have "armies" of workers, while Low Rate of Profit sectors are automated and do have these production difficulties.
"Capital is dead labor, which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living labor, and lives the more, the more labor it sucks."-Karl Marx
April 20 2012: "'Apple iPhone 5 delay, Qualcomm chip shortage to blame?'; A supply shortage at chip maker Qualcomm could delay next generation phones including the new iPhone"-Broadband news
February 27 2012: "Computer chipmaker Elpida Memory Inc. filed for Japan's largest manufacturing bankruptcy Monday after amassing debts from nose-diving prices[...]In 2009, Elpida got government emergency aid totaling 30 billion yen ($375 million) in investments through the government-owned Development Bank of Japan. Other Japanese electronics makers have pulled out of the DRAM business."**
April 18 2012: "ASML Holding NV, the largest supplier of manufacturing equipment to computer chip makers, reported Wednesday a 24 percent fall in earnings for the first quarter, as its backlog of orders from big clients such as Intel and Samsung tapered off."-MSN
**Sony, Toshiba, Mitsubishi, Matsushita(Panasonic) have all gone to wage labor cheaper countries, Elpida paid the price of not understanding that technical advancement does not raise profits, but rather replaces exploitable live labor. Notice, social wealth had to be used, the government had to step in to keep the production process going in this highly advanced technological company.
At a certain point of increase of the productive forces, historical economic systems' ways of reproducing and distributing material goods, become outdated and cannot fulfill this productive and distributive duty. They cannot "provide the goods", fulfill human needs, leading to the overthrow of the ruling class that has the predominat social role in production and a historical world change: revolution.
By the way, those companies' current "boom" that are "Surprising Wall Street with their Profits" are in fact doing horribly in light of their "boom" running on debt from the USA's Federal Reserve that is printing a lot of money to let banks feel lax in investing... and it's not working as it should. (Hint: "The Destruction of Capital Value") This is a huge crisis, don't buy their lies.