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The Injustice of Poverty Second Edition Chapter 4: The Brutal Result of Capitalism on the People of the World -- The Consumer (Historical) By Punkerslut
Section I: Preface to this Chapter It will be in this chapter that I discuss the history of Capitalism, as it deals with the condition of the consumer. When one thinks of the idea of "the consumer" in our modern era, a plethora of ideas come to mind. Some, particularly those of the leftist and revolutionary ideology, will think of over consumption, the gluttonous habits of a Western society. They will see the modern technology of cell phones, computers, SUVs, and the like as the precise form of living beyond our means. While this definition of overconsumption may be thought of when thinking of "the consumer," there is another side of the matter that must be considered. The worker who buys bread for his family, clothes for his children, a home for those whom he must support, is also a consumer. The worker and the consumer in this case, then, is the same person. The title of "worker" or "consumer" are simply titles, two sides to the same coin. To force a worker to endure 14 hours a day of arduous labor, without time to eat his meals, as happened only decades ago in the United States, as is still happening now globally, this may be considered abuse of the worker. Yet to sell black bread to that worker, to overcharge him, to otherwise trick and deceit him, all of this is abuse of the same person, but to the side of him that is a consumer. In this chapter, I shall deal with the abuse of consumers done by Capitalists. Section II: Abuse of the Consumer (Historical)
In 1668, Josiah Child said that when English fish and Herring were traded to other nations, they "often prove false and deceitfully made." He also said, "our Pilchards from the West Country false packed; seldom containing the quantity for which the Hogsheads are marked in which they are packed." Josiah Child also remarked how once-government endorsed seals of quality were purchased by the thousands by buyers who put them on everything they wanted. [*2] In a plague and disease-stricken Europe, Thomas Malthus offered a suggestion as to the cause of such direness in 1798, "But it is not improbable that among the secondary causes that produce even sickly seasons and epidemics ought to be ranked a crowded population and unwholesome and insufficient food." [*3] It would be in the 1900's when scientists finally confirmed that poor quality food is capable of causing great illness and even fatality. In 1815, J.C.L. Simonde de Sismonde would write a political treatise, in which he would describe one new invention: "The stocking-frame economizes work nearly in this proportion [by making it the cost of production only 1% of what it was before], yet it scarcely produces stockings ten per cent. cheaper than those made with the needle." [*4] He would describe much of the economy working in that respect. He would also describe an experiment, by a company that produced clothing with needle instead of the stocking-frame, and that it could turn a profit, even though competing against those companies that did produce via stocking-frame. In 1893, there would be an investigation into the quality of tenement housing. T. J. Morgan would be interviewed for this. The interview would go something like this...
It the late 1800's and early 1900's, it would be a popular idea to save capital and reduce expenditure, for Capitalists, to have workers produce final products in their own homes. The investigation into this wrote, "Here cooking, eating, sleeping, and working were being carried on in the same room, and the materials and finished goods were piled upon the beds and the tables where the food lay." [*6] Written elsewhere in the same report was, "Upon going to the tenement on one of the upper floors of which this apartment was situated, we found it posted with a red scarlet-fever bill and were informed that the fever patients were sick in the room on the same floor, immediately opposite the apartments where clothing was being made..." [*7] In 1893, Florence Kelley investigated the situation, writing, "The woman had on her lap a baby, wrapped in Italian fashion, with a swelling in its neck, which the mother told me was a scarlet fever swelling; and spread upon the baby, and partly covering it, and coming in contact with its head, was a cloak, which this mother was sewing, which bore the tag 'M.F. & Co.'... At 65 Ewing street, the following week, I found a case, in a Sicilian family, where four children were just recovering from scarlet fever, and cloak making had been carried on continuously throughout the illness." [*8] Typhoid fever, diphtheria, dysentery, scabies, scarlet fever, and other diseases were constantly around these products just to be sold. Kelley noted, "The first thing which I noticed in my investigation was the uniformity of filthy surroundings." [*9] In another article, she writes, "... the tenement dwelling is the shop; and cooking, sleeping, sewing and the nursing of the sick are going on simultaneously," and elsewhere, "...the worst conditions of all prevail among the families who finish garments at home. Here the greatest squalor and filth abounds and the garments are of necessity exposed to it and a part of it during the process of finishing." [*10] Summing up the situation, she writes, "It is needless to suggest that the sweat-shop districts as they have been described are the natural abodes of disease and the breeding places of infection and epidemics." [*11] In the first annual report of the factory inspection act, it was written, "Boys are found handling candy with open sores upon their hands, and girls wrapping and packing it whose arms were covered with an eruption which is a direct consequence of filth. Boys from knee-pants shops have presented themselves so covered with vermin as to render a close examination almost impossible." [*12] In 1897, the union label became a popular method for distinguishing union-made materials and non-union made materials, but soon, laws were required to prevent producers from putting "union made" on materials that were made by non-union, sweatshop labor. [*13] Describing the living conditions of the late 1800's and early 1900's, E.R.L. Gould writes in a 1899 article, "Not a single bath-tub is provided, except in two houses where six families have a private bath," and "The middle rooms must borrow what light they can from dark hallways, the narrow shafts, and the rear rooms." [*14] Summing up that housing situation, he writes, "About 2,000 such buildings are constructed annually in the city of New York." [*15] In a report I estimate to be written around the turn of the century, the Working Women's Society writes, "Pavements broken and sunken and infested with pools of dirty water; rooms dark, with low ceilings and insufficient air space, the dampness of these rooms noticeable outside the doors and in the open air. From the roof the committee had a view of old cigar stumps spread on boards in quantities sufficient to make the flesh of any cigar smoker crawl. These houses are unfit for habitation." [*16] Describing the discoveries of this society, they write, "Baird Street frame house; ground floor occupied by a gunsmith and blacksmith; water closets dilapidated, basement in very bad condition." -- "The floor of the fire escapes in this building consisted of wooden slats." -- "[In one house on...] Baird Street frame house fire escapes with wooden slats dry goods englasure on the front on the ground floor." -- "[In one house on...] Baird Street stairs that are dangerous condition and are much worn on the edges, rickety bellistrades and dark halls." [*17] Describing the housing conditions of this era, Lawrence Veiller writes in a 1900-1901 article...
In a 1901 article, Robert Alston Stevenson writes, "A bath-tub in every tenement is an idle dream, they cost too much and run very good chances of being used for coal." [*19] In 1905, Annie S. Daniel writes, "The adornments of woman's dress, the flowers and feathers for her hats, the hats themselves--these I have seen being made in the presence of small-pox... All clothing worn by infants and young children--dainty little dresses--I have seen on the same bed with children sick of contagious diseases and into these little garments is sewed some of the contagion," and "...I attended a woman ill with tuberculosis, finishing trousers." [*20] In summary, he wrote, "To the consumer--The real danger of being infected by disease germs. Among the 150 families manufacturing in the living rooms 66 continued at work during the entire course of the contagious disease for which we were attending the family." [*21] Describing from her own experience, Mary Sherman writes, "...those of us who have lived in the neighborhood of Elizabeth or Cherry streets, or in any of the Italian districts of New York, have seen macaroni hanging in windows and doorways exposed to the dust and dirt of the city streets, thankful that we did not have to eat the macaroni on our own tables." [*22] And, again, with the notice of disease in the present of working conditions, "Within the fortnight the Board of Health disinfected a house on East Twenty-ninth street where there was a case of scarlet fever. Macaroni was drying in the yard and in the windows of the house during all the time of the child's sickness." [*23] One tenement inspector writes of his discoveries...
Further describing the lack of safety in these buildings, the inspector writes, "The fire escapes [in tenement housing] with their vertical ladders make it practically impossible for any but a strong man to get from a burning building, and the wooden stairs and non-fireproof halls in the buildings as high as five stories, together with the inflammable flues furnished by the air shafts, cut off most of the chances for even a man's escape." [*25] In a 1908 publication, Mary Van Kleeck writes, "in 1906 it was found that for weeks a family living in the house had been finishing clothing in the room where the oldest daughter, Vincenza, aged sixteen years, lay dying of tuberculosis." [*26] She also writes, "Angelo, the oldest boy [working to make clothing], had been examined by a physician, who reported that he had scabies(itch), a disease liable to attack all the members of the family at any time. The physician recommended that all the clothing be burned and the rooms thoroughly cleaned." [*27] This advice, however, was ignored. The production, distribution, and transportation of kerosene, from the Civil War up until 1910, has been controlled by a few corporations. [*28] The same can be said of oil. Henry Demarest Lloyd wrote, "It [Standard Oil] has drawn its check for $1,000,000 to suppress a rival. It buys 30,000 to 40,000 barrels of crude oil a day, at a price fixed by itself, and makes special contracts with the railroads for the transportation of 13,000,000 to 14,000,000 barrels of oil a year," and elsewhere, too, "It has ended by making us pay what it pleases for kerosene, and compelling the owner of the well to take what he can get for his product. For the producer of petroleum, as for the producer of grain, the railroad fixes the price the producer receives." [*29] In cheating competitors, "There was apparently no trick the Standard would not play. It delivered its competitors inferior oils when they had ordered the high-priced article, out of which alone they could manufacture the fancy brands their customers called for." [*30] The Germania, a distributor and manufacturer of oil, was bought out by Standard Oil, to stand idle, so that Standard Oil could sell higher. [*31] Standard Oil was not the only one to engage in such unscrupulous tactics. Still writing, Lloyd describes, "One or two firms in Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, with their branch houses in the West, are, by the favor of the railroads, fast monopolizing the export trade in wheat, corn, cattle, and provisions, driving their competitors to the wall with absolute certainty, breaking down and crushing out the energy and enterprise of the many for the benefit of the favored few. " [*32] Further, he describes specific tactics of the wheat barons...
In the late 1800's, the government would investigate the price controls of the corporations. President Gowen, of the Reading Railroad was investigated for setting prices. In his defense, he writes...
Lumber was not excepted from this rule of market: "Four years ago (1880) the Chicago Lumbermen’s Exchange adopted a resolution declaring it to be 'dishonorable' for any dealer to make lower prices than those published by it for the control of prices in one of the greatest lumber markets of the world.... In February, 1883, it was found that members who ostensibly adhered to the price lists dipped into the dishonorable practice of competition on the sly by giving buyers greater than the usual discounts. This was then forbidden, and another pathway of competition closed." and elsewhere, "The prices of redwood are fixed by the Redwood Manufacturers’ Association, and those of pine by the Pine Manufacturers’ Association." [*35] By 1878, the prices of coal in New York had been doubled from their original price. [*36] In summation of the theft, Lloyd writes, "The investigation of 1888 found that between 1873 and 1886, $200,000,000 more than a fair market price was taken from the public by this combination." [*37] To boost their prices, to make more profit, to reap more rewards of wealth, the lords of coal refused distribution of most of their coal, creating an artificial winter, a coal famine...
In a photo dated to 1911, Lewis Hine took a picture of a family deshelling nuts, as some of the family intermittently eats some, without washing their hands. [*39] In February of 1911, Elizabeth C. Watson writes, "For instance, in one house in which the license had been revoked on account of unsanitary conditions, and in which there had been several cases of contagious disease, I found flower making, garment finishing, and fur work." [*40] Describing the living conditions of the poor, working class, Harriet Van der Vaart writes, "...a tract of land that is very low and swampy, a very uncomfortable place to live, but where a great many of the people live whose children work in factories." [*41] In 1964, college-educated women were recruited by a survey, given $10 each, and asked to buy 10 basic commodities at a grocery store, at the smallest price. Less than half of the women could do it, and it took up to one hour to do the shopping. [*42] In chain stores, those outlets found in poverty-stricken neighborhoods were found not to be carrying generic brands, their quality of perishable goods was lower, and the prices were higher. [*43] When a pound of meat was 55 cents in white neighborhoods, it cost 65 cents in black neighborhoods, at a lower quality. [*44] In one of these black neighborhoods, where meat is graded as prime (superior) or choice (inferior), all meat was marked as "prime," because the manager had run out of "choice" stickers. [*45] James Ridgeway writes, "...in a store in a poor neighborhood, the lettuce would be wilted, the apples bruised, the green peppers shriveled. For instance, apples sold at 19 cents a pound in a large store in a good neighborhood; they cost 25 cents a pound in a small store in a run-down section." [*46] James Ridgeway discusses his exploration of a poor grocery store...
Food prices rose 5.2% in 1966. The Consumer Price Index reported that food prices were going up at 3.5% each year, a rate doubled from the previous year. Bread and milk increased by more than 7%. In Denver of 1966, the price of bread went up by 25.6% from the previous year. [*48] In his studies of consumer activity, James Ridgeway writes, "Poor city people pay more for food because they often have no choice but to shop in small corner groceries which stock inferior merchandise at higher prices. They would be better off shopping in large supermarkets where there is a variety of quality goods at lower prices, but there are few supermarkets in the slums," and "In New York City a citizens' group led by William Haddad found that consumers in low-income Negro areas paid more for medicines than those living in upper-income white sections." [*49] In studying auto insurance, Ridgeway found that insurers refuse to do business in African American neighborhoods. In that same report, he writes...
In 1966, Hoechst Pharmaceuticals Inc. ran several ads, including a 10-page color spread for Lasix, a diuretic drug. The ads included full-color photographs of Major Ed White's 1965 space walk, even though the company had nothing to do with the space program. [*51] Other companies did the same thing, including Pay-co-pay, which said that NASA only bought and used their toothbrushes. "NASA officials were somewhat embarrassed, for the ads implied NASA endorsement, which was not the case. NASA had purchased a quantity of Pay-co-pay toothbrushes but never used them." [*52] Discussing the situation of mutual funds in 1966, Mordecai Rosenfeld writes...
From 1959 to 1966, credit life insurance has overcharged its customers $700 million. [*54] The trend of monopolizing an entire industry could be seen in this era, as well. James Ridgeway writes, "In the spring of 1961, when Eastern's shuttle service started, the fare between Washing and New York was $12.73 without tax. In eight months, Eastern's share of this market increased by 35 percent; the price went to $13.64. By the end of 1962, Eastern had 50 percent of the traffic, and the fare was $14.29. By January 1964, Eastern had captured 77 percent of the market and sought and granted another hike -- to $15.24. " [*55] In 1966, doctor's gave thalidomide -- an experimental drug -- to pregnant women without telling them, as they were being paid by pharmaceutical companies. Both woman gave birth to deformed children. [*56] In 1966, over 100 lawsuits had been filed against General Motors, because the inferior design of their cars resulted in thousands of deaths. [*57] Though the production process is nearly identical, aspirin made by Squibb or Upjohn was priced at least 10 times more than generic aspirin. [*58] David Sanford writes in 1966, "The brand-name hoax has hooked the public on all kinds of consumer goods. Two suits or TV sets are made by the same company but marketed under two different names -- one expensive and familiar and one cheaper and unknown." [*59] It was also discovered that generic brand drugs were found "with grease, dirt and paper embedded in them." [*60] But expensive brands are not exempt, as some have "been found by FDA to be mislabeled, adulterated, too potent, not potent enough." [*61] On April 15, of 1965, Procaine Penicillin was recalled, because the drug particles were too large to inject through a needle; there was another recall by the same name brand company for a labeling mixup; and, a bottle that was supposed to contain Pentids actually contained Diethylstilbestrol. [*62] Sanford sums up the situation, "Squib [a name brand] has been involved in recalls for carton mix-ups, label mix-ups, foreign capsules, contamination, printing errors, excess potency, low potency, ingredient substitution." [*63] Squibb sells Pentids for $6.62 per 100 tablets, when a generic name sells the same amount for $0.92. [*64] Merck dropped the price of Prednisone overnight from $17.90 per thousand tablets to $2.20 -- individuals had been charged $15 more than what a two dollar product was worth. African Americans were found to be paying more for brand-name drugs, sometimes 20% more. [*65] Before World War II, X-rays were used to treat everything: acne, removing tonsils, and a variety of things, serious and trivial. The untested X-rays produced radiation that created an alarming and unprecedented incidence of thyroid cancer in those patients. [*66] In a 1961 inspection of 3,600 X-ray units in New York City, 92% were found to be defective and harmful to patients. The state inspected a total number of 113,806 medical X-ray units in use, only one fourth of that were inspected, and half were found defective. The amount corrected was less than 10,000. [*67] In 1967, one thousand Dexedrine tablets cost $22.60, but the generic brand was one thousand tablets for $1. Ten other companies sold for less than $2. The ingredients in a gallon of phenylephrine nose drops cost the manufacturer $3.50, but the customer paid $1 for a one-ounce bottle. That means that a $3.50 gallon sold for $120 in retail. Pil-Digis is sold by Davies, Rose-Hoyt, for $18.40 per 1,000 tablets. American Quinine, the generic brand, sells the same amount for $1.36, or Corvit sells for $1.70. Meprobamate sold by the brand name goes at 450 pills for $6.50, but Pennex sells the same amount for $3.10. Phenobarbital sells for $2 for 50 or fewer pills, but the generic brand costs 50 cents for 1,000 tablets. 1,000 iron vitamins under brand name cost $9 for 1,000 pills, but generic brands sell the same amount for $2. And, in fact, half of the time the government made a recall of a drug, the big, brand name firms were involved. [*68] In 1967, 15% of commercial slaughtered animals, and 25 percent of commercial processed meat, is not covered by adequate inspection laws. According to the FDA, "significant portions of this meat are diseased and are processed in grossly unsanitary conditions, and its true condition is masked by the latest preservatives, additives, and coloring agents." In one year, over 22 million pounds of meat was condemned as tainted, rancid, moldy, odorous, unclean, or contaminated Sulfite, a dangerous added that has been federally illegal to use, is used to give meat a deceptive bright pink color, but in 1967, 26 out of 30 hamburger samples tested positive for it. One New York state official estimated that 90% of the uninspected meat sold in that state was labeled deceptively. Ten to thirty percent of the weight in big hams is attributed to water pumped in the veins of the carcass at the back of supermarkets Meat is doped with Aureomycin, a substitute for sanitation, and detergents are applied to fresh up unfit meat. [*69] One prominent voice criticized the meat industry for...
Rodney E. Leonard, a witness of the meat industries tactics, reported, that there "are many opportunities for illegitimate operators to introduce into human food channels meat derived from dead, dying, disabled and diseased animals -- commonly referred to as '4-D's." [*71] When examining 2,057 samples of tuna from two different processing plants, 11.2% tested positive for salmonella organisms. [*72] Frozen dinners and "ready to serve" dishes are showing a great probability of harboring trichinosis and other bacterial threats. [*73] Peas that are used in the premium brand Del Monte actually come from the same ranch, and possibly the same batch, as peas that come from generic A&P label, though there is a significant cost difference. The same is true of milk. [*74] In the 60's, it was believed that fraudulent practices in the drug, therapeutic, and home repair fields drain the consumer of $1 to $1.5 billion each year. Professor Sanford Kadish said, "It is possible to reason convincingly that the harm done to the economic order by violations of many of these regulatory laws is of a magnitude that dwarfs in significance the lower-class property offenses." [*75] The Greyhound Bus Company knowingly used badly worn tires on a bus, which ended up skidding off the road, killing one and seriously injuring others -- if convicted, the fines on the company would be no more than $1,000, due to the fact that the company is a corporation. [*76] In 1967, over 70 percent of auto safety equipment failed to meet state standards. [*77] In 1967, Ralph Nader reported...
A 1963 Consumers Union report claimed, "The general quality level of all frozen fishery products tested by CU in the past few years can only be described as dismal." [*79] Before being sold, dead fish rest 5-14 days in hold pens. [*80] In 1963, nine people died from canned tuna having botulism poisoning. During the 1966 Memorial weekend, nearly 400 cases of salmonella poisoning in New York City occurred, traced to the fishing plants. [*81] In one test, 55 percent of breaded fish portions were so substandard that they couldn't even be graded. [*82] Ralph Nader wrote...
In 1966, 250 million pounds of meat was destroyed by federal inspectors, due to disease, spoilage, and contamination. [*84] Nader writes again...
One customer in 1968 bought a used car at $98 a month (though it was advertised at only $50 a month). He got behind on payments in then they requested $1,300 in full payments. They repossessed the car, sold it, and are still requiring $500 more from him. They threatened to garnish his wages, in which case his own employer would fire him -- and this one customer was one case out of tens, maybe hundreds, of thousands. [*86] Minority contractors in San Francisco were routinely denied employment in the 1960's. [*87] In the 1960's, the FDA required instructions on certain drugs not to be used on women with psychic depression -- the megacorporations response: change the name of the drugs, and it went unnoticed (except for the victims) for many years. [*88] Punkerslut, Resources 1. Ingersoll, Robert Green, "Eight Hours Must Come," 1877.
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