Big, Easy Money

CorpWatch (a False Profit acquisition target) recently released a report entitled “Big, Easy Money: Disaster Profiteering on the Gulf Coast” written by Rita J. King. The major theme is corruption in the reconstruction process. Instead of contracting with local firms to handle the work, the Army Corps and FEMA gave open-ended contracts (essentially a blank check to bill for any work done under the guise of said contract) to companies like KBR/Halliburton, Bechtel, and AshBritt. These large corporations in turn subcontracted to companies that subcontracted again (and sometimes again and again) for the actual work, often resulting in laborers making little more than minimum wage while vast profits went to those at the top of the “contracting pyramid”. Worse, local companies bid for the same work at lower prices and had their bids rejected in favor of the big companies who spend big lobbying dollars.

Our research here at False Profit indicates a significant discrepancy between the theory of capitalism and the practices described in this report. Despite being the first Venture Communist company in the world, we do recognize the merits of a meritocratic system — in theory. What is being played out today, however, is just the opposite. It is not capitalism; it is oligopoly and cronyism. And even if the prime contracts had been awarded in an efficient (that is, honest) fashion, the inefficiencies of “contracting pyramids” would still lead to a dramatic loss. To conduct business in this fashion under the banner of capitalism gives it a bad name, one which we as a Limited Liability Company do not appreciate.

Imagine how at every step in a “contracting pyramid” profits are extracted, but little useful work is accomplished. This line of thinking leads our analysts to a surprising conclusion: Capitalism requires us all to do something that we love and thus generate value. If one imagines the workers of the world all sitting behind desks and arranging subcontracts for work, it is clear that no one is left to transform idea into reality. The more people actively engaged in productive activity, the more efficient our system is at expressing our true desires. Yet we need not judge the nature of work being done, only the passion with which is is carried out — some people genuinely love making deals or managing the work of others, and have real talents to share with us in those fields. But each person who sits behind a desk because it pays well, because they’re afraid (financially or otherwise) to work at something they love, or because they haven’t found the work they love, every single person who doesn’t do what they love robs us all. Even within a capitalist system of resource distribution, there is a constant and equal requirement for everyone: Do what you love.