As published in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, June 30, 2010
Socialism is the solution
"Out of work and running out of time" (June 25), about unemployment benefits ending for a million people, should prompt us to ask what causes unemployment, and why, in the 21st century, can we not manage an economy that provides full employment.
The answer is that capitalism is an antiquated, irrational system that does not provide a mechanism to plan a stable, sustainable economy. Capitalists compete to drive one another out of business, exploit the cheapest labor and take the highest profits possible. The outcome of this usurious behavior is periodic economic crisis, layoffs and needless worry.
There is a solution: socialism. With socialism, workers — white and blue collar, through democratic public entities—would own large corporations and plan investment of capital and manage production to guarantee full employment.
Such planning is not any more difficult and certainly technologically easier than producing computer chips. When a majority of workers realize unemployment is a product of capitalism, we can choose to upgrade our economy to socialism and end unemployment.
Wayne Nealis, Minneapolis
