Investors vs. Workers: Is there a better way?

I realized a few months back something I'm sure any of you who have studied political theory and finance already knew.

The stock market system makes it possible for people to use workers -- of any kind -- to turn a profit without doing any work. The worker essentially becomes a cog in the machine that spits out profits for the benefit of the stockholder/investor.

This not only seems unjust and dehumanizing, but it can also lead to all sorts of abuses of workers. It means that those who do not choose to become entrepreneurs or businessmen are always getting fucked by the system (unless they get hired by a coop, such as Come As You Are or Good Vibes). Some companies fuck you gently and take care to give you pleasure; other companies will fuck you up the ass with no lube. Either way, you're getting screwed -- profits that come from your sweat and tears are going to some fat cat off in an office somewhere, and you're getting a raise that barely matches inflation. I believe that it is this system that is primarily responsible for the shrinking middle class.

The problem is that without the investor system, I see no sensible way for a poor man with great ideas to start a new company. In this day and age, companies will often take great whopping amounts of money to startup due to the cost of equipment, etc. Very few people would be able to start a company without the help of an investor, and those that could would be already rich. We'd end up with a plutocratic hierarchy within each company. This is also unjust... it makes the system feel much more classist -- and yet, at least your income will be directly in proportion to the quality/quantity of work you put out. In a system like this, new employees could be offered a percentage of the company, and salary would be according to that percentage of the company's total profits, after money for improvements pr new hires is taken into account. Unreliable, hard to budget for, but much more rewarding. Much more fair.

But that still doesn't address the problem of creating a system where the worker is treated fairly AND anyone can start a company. And I'm no financial-political Einstein. None of my ideas seem particularly groundbreaking or brilliant. Business loans and business grants could be more readily available from the government, for instance. That's one possible solution. But I'm never sure that bloating the government even more is a good answer.

Anyway, there you have it. My political procrastination rambling of the day.

That time of year: RAISE TIME!

It's that time of year. Yes, in the next month or two, those of us who are employed will (hopefully) be getting glowing reviews, followed by respectable raises.

But what IS a respectable raise?

( Canadian HR Reporter, September 25, 2006: Salary survey roundup )

OK, so depending on your sector, an average raise is projected to be anywhere from 2.2 per cent (for metal manufacturing workers) to about 5.3 per cent (for public administration professionals).

But there's what's average, and what's fair, right?

So, what is inflation doing? I think Bank of Canada expects inflation to, on average, be 2.7 per cent each year, but that doesn't mean that it was 2.7 per cent THIS year.

In fact, according to Stats Can, including energy prices (which dropped drastically), the consumer price index has only increased about 0.7 per cent, as of September. If you remove energy from the picture, the inflation increases to between 1.5 and 1.8 per cent during the same period.

So there you have it. If you do better than 1.8 per cent, you're definitely actually getting a raise; it's just a pathetic raise. If you do better than 5.3 per cent, you're getting an exceptional raise. Less than that MIGHT be exceptional, depending on your sector.