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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Capitalism through the Lens of Kohl's Case |
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by David Martin, Tory Gavito
Email: p_hayze (nospam) hotmail.com (unverified!) |
15 Jul 2001
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David Martin's analysis of the Khol's case from the inside of Jefferson County (Colorado) Jail. He is being held, along with Doug Bohm, because he refuses to testify before a politically-inspired grand jury "fishing expedition" resulting from a supposed investigation of the infamous "Santa trashes Kohls" case. |
Capitalism Through the Lens of the Kohl’s Case
David T. Martin, Inmate at Jefferson County Correctional Facility July 6, 2001
When the \"Santas\" destroyed clothing at Kohl’s department store in December, the reaction of the media and the government revealed how these institutions serve the corporate profit machine. Under capitalism, the means of communication, coercion, and production function as a system to protect property and profit. In the following analysis, I shine light on this system through the lens of the Kohl’s case.
Means of Communication
To assess the role of the media, I will look specifically at the print media, since it generally sets the agenda and frames the story for the electronic media. Newspapers are owned by corporations and make profits by selling audiences of particular interest to advertisers at the lowest cost. Notice that the principal function of the news is not the development of a well-informed public capable of making democratic decisions. Rather the \"news\" serves to gain the attention of a particular audience and then persuade them to purchase products sold by the newspapers\' advertisers. The result is that newspapers frame stories in a manner that support the interest of their advertisers.
Department stores like Kohl’s are some of the largest sources of advertising revenue for the newspapers. For that reason, newspapers rarely cover the labor-rights violations of department stores’ suppliers. Unsurprisingly, protests against such violations are also rarely covered. On those rare occasions, when the print media covers sweatshops, they typically frame them as a necessary evil for economic development and that sweatshop workers are lucky to have jobs at all. Newspapers almost never hold department stores accountable for the labor-rights violations of their suppliers.
The \"Santas\" property destruction at Kohl’s received print news coverage due to its sensational \"man bites dog\" element (in this case, Santa destroys gifts.) The Rocky Mountain News framed the story as the \"Santas\" ruined the spirit of Christmas shopping through their \"vandalism\". The newspaper failed to put the \"Santas\" action within the context of the corporate crimes of Kohl’s. Rather, from the context established by the paper, the action appears to be a vicious violation of America’s cherished right to shop. This frame is directly in line with the interest of their department store advertisers.
Means of Coercion
Corporations like Kohl’s fund the political campaigns of legislators, who in turn pass laws that protect the interest of corporations. Thus, there are no laws that hold Kohl’s responsible for the international violations of labor-rights committed by its suppliers (while there easily could be). But the laws consider it a felony to destroy the clothes sold by Kohl’s. The legal system places property rights at its core rather than human rights. This bias in the legal system serves to justify the deployment of massive government resources in pursuit of \"vandals\", while the same agencies never lifted a finger to pursue the labor rights violator, Kohl’s. Corporate investors like Kohl’s provide a major source of tax revenue for city and county governments. This, on top of campaign contributions to local officials, explains why the police, prosecutors and judge find it necessary to spend so much time and resources to prosecute \"vandals\".
These officials hope to demonstrate to corporate investors that no expense is too large and no civil right too valuable to stand in the way of their efforts to protect corporate property. In addition, these officials have \"pursued justice\" in a manner that has disrupted and intimidated grassroots organizing against sweatshop abuses. They intend to guarantee a \"favorable business climate\" for corporate investors.
Means of Production
With the support of the media and the state, corporations like Kohl’s easily use their market access to control clothing producers and generate profits. Kohl’s can shift its purchasers to the lowest cost producers who pay their workers the least and repress labor organizing the most. The difference between what Kohl’s pays these producers and what they sell the clothes for at their stores results in massive profits (profits rose 20% last year). These profits are, of course, on top of the outlays for newspaper advertising, campaign funds to legislators, and taxes to city and county governments. These are basic operating costs of the corporate profit machine.
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See also:
http://www.aigis.com/defensecommittee/
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