Capitalism and lack of democracy

This morning I heard Nancy Kellaway's Business commentary on the BBC. It is always interesting when a dogmatic friend of capitalism unwittingly provides support for those of us who believe capitalism is inevitably un-democratic.

Kellaway had been inspired by recent events at Harvard, but her comments were much more general. She remarked in passing (and quite blandly, I thought, though it is part of her "sarky" know-it-all style isn't it?) that in the ordinary workplace workers "kiss up" to the boss. (Evidently, that's okay with her.) By contrast, individualistic and selfish professors are just out for themselves, and wish to maintain a status quo which benefits them. Pity the poor manager, who, glimpsing the true needs of the organization, wishes to make a change.

This vision of a grand leader who knows what others cannot dates back to Plato and is intensely un-democratic. And, the depiction of the competitiveness of the ordinary workplace begs the question whether it's a good thing.

It is questionable whether the needs of "the company" or institution can be classified as unselfish or moral. On the contrary, when we talk about the "company" we are talking about the interests of a small group of people--the owners or stockholders. The suggestions that professors are selfish and managers are not is, simply, laughable. (I won't mention Enron or the way that US auto companies are reneging on promises to people who used to work for them...) Similarly, the suggestion that managers are in a position of privileged knowledge is itself questionable. They may have some special access to the wishes of owners or other privileged groups, but that's hardly knowledge of what's just....