The question of who gets the top right in any society is always an interesting
one. Invariably, the top dogs in any era assert that there’s no alternative.
Kings said it three hundred years ago; capital owners say it today. They
hire priests and economists to add moral or pseudoscientific credence to
their claims. The truth, though, is that societies choose their top right
holders, and we can change our minds if we wish.
Kelly locates many places where capital’s supremacy is written into
our codes. Corporate directors, for example, are bound
by law to put shareholders’ financial
gain first. If a raider offers a higher price for a publicly
traded company than its current market value, directors have little choice
but to sell,
regardless of the consequences for workers, communities,
or nature. Similarly, it’s the fiduciary duty of mutual funds, pension
funds, and other institutional investors to seek the highest returns for
their shareholders or beneficiaries.
This duty is embodied, among other places, in the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. Although the language of the act
sounds innocent enough — a
pension fund manager, like any trustee, “shall
discharge his duties . . . solely in the interest of
the participants and beneficiaries” — it
results, ironically, in the financing of many workers’ retirements
by investing in companies that shift other workers’ jobs
overseas. Throw in the WTO and NAFTA, and the rights
of capital stand comfortably astride
everyone else’s. ... read
the whole chapter