What do we call this? Early stage capitalism? What the Western world is on track to return to? Forshadow capitalism?
This is when miners were paid in company currency and lived in company houses and shopped at a company store.
"Burial Fund - $3.00"
"Rent - $3.50"
To also live in a coffin.
It's called "capsule" now.
"I owe my soul to the company store" song comes to mind.
Grew up in an old union mining town that had some pretty violent strikes in the 1910s and 20s. Didn't realize it was still going on other places into the 1940s.
Set local minimum wage law to median rent prices. And watch landlords/NIMBYS and employers fight each other. That's the only way to dig out way out of this mess.
"Haul ten tons, and what do you get? Another day older, and deeper in debt."
"St Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go, I owe my soul to the company store"
... That line still low-key blows my mind.
That has always bothered me about the term "late-stage capitalism." It makes it sound like the problems of today are unique to our stage in development and not intrinsic to capitalism itself.
To a lot of people, it seems like the issue is modernity and the solution is to return to a more prosperous past. Like when we had segregation, or limited suffrage, indentured servitude or (more) slavery...
The term "late-stage capitalism" doesn't make it sound like it's not intrinsic to capitalism to me, it sounds like that's the inevitable result of capitalism. Thus it means it is intrinsic to capitalism.
This reminds me of the "toxic masculinity" discourse. Some people say that the term means that masculinity itself is toxic. Other people say that masculinity is fine, it's toxic masculinity that's the problem, hence the qualifier.
I've seen people use the term late-stage capitalism to advocate for like, Bush era politics so I don't think we're getting the right message across.
I never thought of it that way, that's a good point
I mean, if that’s late stage capitalism what do we have 80 years later? Later stage capitalism? Are people paying the company store like this today?
Directly visible and throwing you into debt? No.
But the surplus value you create and that you do not get goes somewhere, and that is not only funding your bosses business but also his yacht :^)
Instead of them paying you in company currency and owning the stores that accept that currency, they (the rich oligarchy) pay you in regular currency but own basically every store.
It's a mining town scaled all the way up, and we're in it.
You better start believing in cyberpunk dystopias.
You're in one.
Due to inelasticity of demand and artificially limited supply, the things we need to live will always cost all of the money that you can make, and there will never be enough of them for everyone to buy.
Also, they have no incentive to make it available for everyone because limiting supply is how they profit.
This is still late-stage capitalism. Capitalism has persisted in opposition to effectively all Human well-being for centuries, since at-least the 1700s. So, it was still very much Late-Stage Capitalism in the 1940s. That we have yet to put this vile system out of all our misery yet doesn't modify which stage it's been stuck in for X period of time.
Further it's been Imperialism in the Colonial or Neo-Colonial style for how long now? Four centuries? Five?
It's giving The Outer Worlds' Spacer's Choice 😬 if you know you know...
It looks like they had a balance of $83 at the beginning of the week. They probably had to buy their equipment the previous period along with furniture and shit. I'm sure they paid very inflated prices for all of it. That is all bullshit of course but they are not going to be in debt the next week.
It's kind of fucked that they were charged a burial fund. If they died in the mines, the mine owner would tell their family to fuck off and pay.