Neoliberalism On Trial Critical Thinkings Examples
According to David Havey, the present situation of augmented neoliberalism has changed the view of an assortment of things. Foremost, neoliberalism has eroded the majority of values that were instilled in the earlier times by conservatisms. As such, Havey brings in the aspect of reduced ethics in the neoliberal world. In our case, it is true that venture capitalists treat humanity just as any other factor of production. Hence, there exists the commodification of mankind as a factor of production that can be purchased and sold at any moment that the capitalist deem right. However, basing our thought on the fundamental values of mankind and humanity it is not right to treat human capital as any other factor of production. This is due to the crucial role that human capital plays in any given ventures and organization; they keep the operations rolling given the other factors of production.
Trade liberalization over time has empowered the capitalists in all manner of ways that have left the employees in a worse-off position. A majority of the policies laid down by the capitalists are all geared to the core objectives of their ventures, that is, profit maximization. Conversely, these policies are rolled out at the expense of the working human capital. From the beginning, the policies of neoliberalism have been ruled out to be relatively biased towards the capitalists, a situation that exposes the human capital vulnerable to the venture capitalists. It is also evident that neoliberal labor policies exude a lot of rigidities that do not allow changes that would be very accommodative to humanity in general.
It is, however, prudent to adopt alternative economic labour policies that would be beneficial to both the capitalists, as well as the diverse human capital. One such policy would be the minimum wage policy that has been over time been implemented by various governments of the world. The policy of minimum wage would offer some liberation on the financial gains of the majority of employees. Since, the neoliberal policies were highly welcomed by the private sectors; it made it possible for the private capitalists to be able to manipulate employee wages. Some of the set wages, however, are not beneficial to a majority of the laborers. Thus, given a better minimum wage policy that would be able to offer increased wages to all the employees regardless of their place of operation, that is, private or public sector; there would be improved standards for humanity.
Consequently, to ensure the policy of minimum wages is beneficial to the employees it would be imperative to incorporate flexibility of wages as opposed to the current stickiness of wages which makes it difficult for humanity to earn their desired wages. Another alternative policy that would be very efficient given the current increased levels of globalization in the business world is the phenomenon of new mercantilism. The trend of new mercantilism advocates for improved global competitiveness in policies adopted by governments and corporations in the world. Thus, as a result, organizations and governments would become more conscious of the labour policies they implement to ensure they remain competitive in the global scene. New mercantilism has led to a majority of corporations restructuring their human capital so as to suit world standards so as to remain as competitive.
Another policy that is deemed quite considerate to the fundamental values of human capital is that of collective bargaining agreements (CBA). This gives room for the employees to have an open dialogue with the capitalists so as to come up with an amicable policy for remuneration and other employee benefits. As a result, this would improve labour not just like any other factors of production but that which promotes humanity by giving mankind a chance to play a role in the entire labour structure of a given corporation. It is a fact that employees like any other humanity must be treated with respect and dignity regardless of their positions in the corporations. However, a majority of the capitalist do not consider this while doctoring their labor policies. The CBA would be a very appropriate policy that inculcates dignity and human value in the labor structure of the corporation or government.
According to the Keynesian model of labor, it is asserted that wages are sticky downwards but flexible upwards. However, neoliberalists do not agree with this model. This is due to the fact that the model limits them to cut employee wages which would be beneficial to them in terms of reduced labor costs. However, a policy that would be adopted to favor humanity in the labor market is the fiscal policy of increased government spending. This would offer humanity an opportunity to work in an improved labour market given the increased span of government spending geared towards promoting labour. It is believed that every government has a fundamental mandate of safeguarding humanity and for this reason; this would be a workable policy that would go a long way in meeting a lot of employee expectations. The policies discussed form a variety of strategies that would be utilized to ensure employee satisfaction, improved humanity and a better world labour market.
Work Cited:
Harvey, David. A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.
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