Some core values of capitalism

  • Individuality- looking to develop the person
  • accumulation of profit
  • Freedom – the ability to do what you want
  • Labor – for money.  The company gets more out of the labor of workers than what they pay their employees
  • Private property- Protecting their home, not having anyone infringe on their rights as a homeowner
  • Free market- prices, supply, and demand are all based on the open market (consumers), free from any intervention by a government.

Joel Salatin is critical of capitalism in many ways. One of the ways Joel Salatin criticizes capitalism is when he states that “Polyface has never had a sales target, marketing plan, or business plan” This contradicts capitalism in many forms. To make a business plan to increase profits is a foundation of capitalism. When you have no sales target, then your not looking for any specific cutomers to sell your product to. In a capitalist economy, businesses tend to market to a specific demographic of people. Another example of Salatin being critical of capitalism is this quote “We’re much more concerned about healing than competition.” This represents the idea of sharing. Mr. Salatin is willing to give away the secrets that makes his farm self sustainable and healthy because he cares more about the environment than profit or competition between farmers.  In capitalism, a core value is individuality. Looking out for the individual, developing the individual. Salatin is about developing everyone. Helping others and the earth is his personal core value. Which directly goes against capitalism. If you are a business owner in favor of  capitalism then your are trying to prosper your business, attempting to make it bigger in size for more profit, Salatin expresses his contradiction to this exact model  “All my experiences with empires have been negative. And people who run them seem fairly unhappy.” The definition of capitalism- “an economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.” This explains the viewpoint Salatin has on capitalism and how he is critical of it.

Joel Salatin is a propenent of capitalism in some ways. One of the forms in which he supports a type of capitalism is when he states that he is a “fan of bonuses and commission” This relates to capitalism in that the accumulation of money is a key principle of capitalism. Commission and bonuses are both very common forms of accumulating money, which stems from rewarding your employees for achievements in the workplace.  Another way that Mr. Salatin is a proponent of capitalism is that he himself uses independent growers who are on a per piece pay scale.  This coincides with capitalist values by  using “independent growers”. Independence from other factors, is a key principle of capitalism, and “per piece pay scale”, which is a profit the farm receives from its workers labor. The company gets more out of the labor of workers than what they pay their employees.  These are both ways Salatin is somewhat a proponent of capitalism.

To some degree the 54% of Americans who say that capitalism is working well would accept Polyface Farm Business model. It depends on the individual but I would think that most everyone regardless of what you believe in would support polyface farms. It is considered a big farm by USDA because it exceeds $400,000 in profit per year. Polyface farm annual sales exceed 1 million dollars. They help the environment, the animals, the workers on the farm and other farms. It is making profit and helping other farms save money by using the self sustaining techniques Polyface encorporates. I think that a small margin of the 54 % would not accept Polyface business method, due to their capability of making more money but they willingly choose not to.