Stealing food from the hungry

[auroraglacialis]

There were patches in history where politics ruled over the economy and at times even over economics. Usually put off as small and short lived abberations. "Communists", "Socialists", "Anarchists". For longer stretches of non-rulership of economy you have to go befor 1600 indeed. And it were of couorse not always happier times. An emperor or the church or a dictator could rule and do so with more power than the economy, but not to the benefit of the people. I am basically just saying that we replaced one dictator or emperor with the dictatorship of the economy. "Its the economy, stupid!" - Most of us follow the orders of the economy. The social structures of the past century have tried hard to make us into the "homo economicus" of game theory, which is at the base of modern capitalism and consumerism. Fact is, that most people and certainly almost all larger entities follow the rules of the economy. And these are harsh, they do not say "care for the people" or "create community" or "save the planet". They say "what is efficient/cheap/productive/profitable will be done, all else is irrelevant". I would not want a monarch like that.
Oh and just as a "light" example - I was born into this country in a time when things were different. The railway, the postal service and parts of the energy supply - the water services, schools and kindergartens - all this was owned by the public. People working there got decent wages, a safe job and good working conditions, customers got prices that were adequate, trains went to remote locations at a loss to allow people living there access to cities, everyone could get the same kind of education. In eastern Germany it was even guaranteed that everyone gets cheap housing and a place in kindergarden for his kids. One parents wage was enough to feed a family. During the 1980ies this went away. Now the railway is owned by a pseudo-private company, the postal service is privatized and some cities sold their water supply. Both parents have to work for the low wages they get but cannot find a room for their kid during the day unless they pay the price the economy desires. Universities are sponsored at times by companies because they are encouraged to find their own funding according to the economy, providing only the kind of education these companies want. Trains do not drive to remote locations anymore because it is not economic. Even healthcare suffers because of the introduction of economic structures that encourage doctors to rather send people home with an Aspirin than look at what really is wrong - or keep patients in hospitals because they need to fill the beds. So yes of course, this is all more economic, it is efficient, it is "lean" and productive and creates profit and it plays by the rules of the economy - but is it humane? Is it ethical? Is it the right thing to do? I think not. Not really.