Plus Television’s Louis Wade, a pastor, stated on his morning show recently that he was not a socialist, and that he believes in compassionate capitalism. Pastor Wade has quoted the Apostle Paul, who said a man who doesn’t work has no right to eat — a statement which, in a capitalist state, clearly ignores the fact that, of necessity, there must be a certain level of unemployment, or the system sputters.
As Art Perlo graphically put it in the People’s World story “Capitalism and Unemployment”, “the misery of the unemployed and underemployed fuels the profits, which keep the capitalist economy going.” We aren’t strangers to the workings of the capitalist system in Belize. Cheap labor, gotten from the ranks of the unemployed, some of them foreigners, have been of great service, especially to the banana, sugar and citrus industries. Unemployed Mexicans, Belizeans too, have moved seasonally to pick fruits on US farms.
Unemployed workers and their families, like all human beings, have to take care of their basic needs, and when the unemployed breadwinner is living in an urban area, life is a whole lot more difficult. Businesses that have done well off the backs of labor and the resources of a country should have consideration for unemployed workers, but many businesses don’t, and it’s left up to government of, by, and for the people to step in and take care of those who are in need.
Classic capitalism, a tough system, is about making profits, not job creation. Jobs are created by businesses when they have certain needs, not because business folk see unemployed people about and want to get them off the streets. Capitalists say it’s wise for governments to favor them over all others because the masses benefit when riches generated by successful businesses trickle down.
“Compassionate capitalism” is actually an established term. Management Study Guide, in the story “What is Compassionate Capitalism and Why We Need it in These Times of Planetary Crisis?” says that it’s about the development of an economic model “wherein corporations ensure that communitarian and people-oriented business models are embraced so that profit is not the only criterion or reason why they are in business.” In short, the talk is about kinder, gentler business folk, and corporations that are concerned about their environmental footprint, and account to their employees and the people in the communities where they operate.
Prior to the Briceño government coming into office in November 2020, our economy had underperformed for four consecutive quarters, so our country was not doing well when we were hit by the pandemic, which has gripped us going on two years. Worldwide costs are rising, and the unemployed and underemployed are feeling the pinch. Many businesses have been hit too, but a number of them are doing well, with some benefiting from the rising prices around the globe. Some businesses are in a good position to be compassionate capitalists in Belize, at this time when we are in such need.
Unfortunately, that ship hasn’t stopped here. The Belize Agro-Productive Sector (BAS), a group which features a number of persons who were tagged by the new Briceño government to help lead us out of the economic quagmire we were/are in, recently fired off a letter to the government, calling on it to become “more proactive in the application of the law in defense of these investments [the investments of its members] and denounce any criminal act perpetuated against investors.”
The BAS had to express concern when a portion of the cane fields of one of its members was burned, but it wasn’t compassionate capitalism when it appeared to lump the legitimate fight of cane farmers and stevedores with vandalism.
Major operatives of the BAS are members of the Port of Big Creek-Toledo Enterprises Ltd., which recently took over the Port of Belize’s (PBL) contract for the loading/shipping of sugar from ASR/BSI. This move, which is a very difficult sell from a business or environmental standpoint, and which looks even more suspect now that the price of fuel is increasing, took bread out of the mouths of over a hundred stevedores, to give it to machines and a few workers. Maybe the BAS member, Banana Growers Association, thinks it did enough when it shared fruits with those most in need at the beginning of the pandemic.
Some members of the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) are battling to survive, but that did not give the group license, and was far from compassionate capitalism, when it chastised the government for its failure to “preserve the rule of law” after small cane farmers, in their fight to get better terms in a new commercial agreement, blocked the delivery of cane to the mill at Tower Hill for several days, and the stevedores at PBL went on strike for eight days to, among other things, prevent PBL from massively cutting its workforce.
The PM, Hon. John Briceño, called the BCCI letter “unfortunate.” The PM said his government intervened in the standoffs “in the best interest of all stakeholders”, and while the government used our country’s security forces to keep the peace, the BCCI seemed to suggest that it should have been a lot more aggressive.
ASR/BSI has claimed that its subsidiary, Belize Cogeneration Energy Ltd. (Belcogen), isn’t making much profits, but it has brought a lawsuit against the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association (BSCFA) for more than half a million dollars, losses which it says it suffered when the cane farmers blocked the delivery of cane for four or five days. The BSCFA has noted the amount Belcogen is asking for in this lawsuit and will probably be looking for some compassionate capitalism when next they sit with ASR/BSI at the negotiating table.
In another exhibit of uncompassionate capitalism in Belize, the workers at PBL are also facing a lawsuit. PBL is claiming over a million dollars from the Christian Workers Union (the representative of stevedores) and its leaders for the eight days the workers went on strike to defend their interests. In what can only be described as a savage move, further to its lawsuit the management of PBL tried, unsuccessfully, to delay a promised payment by GOB to stevedores, a small compensation for economic hardships those workers have experienced since the port was privatized.
Mahatma Ghandi, in response to the question, “What do you think of Western civilization?” said he thought “it would be a good idea.” This compassionate capitalism, it is indeed a good idea. There are some small businesses in Belize that have a heart, but in their mad rush to the top, the big boys in Belize don’t seem to care about anything besides their profits. That compassionate capitalism ship definitely didn’t stop here.