On June 23, a Missouri appeals court upheld and order for Johnson & Johnson to pay over $2 billion in damages to women who have developed ovarian cancer as a result of using their talcum-based baby powder, which contained asbestos. A huge settlement like this is certainly a victory for the women affected, thousands of whom still have pending cases against the pharmaceutical giant. However, we must realize that cases like this are not merely instances of bad corporate behavior, but demonstrations of the destructive nature of the capitalist valorization process.
The notion that companies “put profit over people” has become increasingly popular in the United States as a result of the rise of Bernie Sanders and his left-wing populism. While this is true in a superficial sense, it is ultimately an incomplete critique that will do very little to address the devastating impact of capitalism on human life. This statement is based on a widely-held assumption that corporations have agency and are free to do what they want. In the view of many, cases like the Johnson & Johnson case are examples of greedy executives who are just morally bankrupt and predisposed to engage in shady behavior to boost the profitability of the company.
However, the issue here is not personal behavior but an irrational social formation based on the endless self-expansion of value. The reality is that companies have no agency. Capitalism has one objective: to create surplus value through valorization. A firm that does not do this effectively will not survive. The social and environmental consequences of this process are ignored, as shown in the Johnson & Johnson specifically and in the overall degradation of human health and the environment more generally.
Teflon can found in the blood of 99.7% of Americans, surely alongside a host of other toxic chemicals. Every day, we are exposed to hundreds of tested and untested chemicals, which wreak untold havoc on our bodies’ systems. All of this, so that at the end of the day, the mass of value is larger than the day before.
While it is important not to dismiss the blatantly corrupt and sociopathic behavior of many corporate executives, who do indeed make choices that sacrifice human life for the pursuit of growing profits, it is important to realize that these choices are simply the result of the abstract forms of domination that characterize capitalist modernity. Everyone must work to survive, and for corporate executives this means increasing profitability at all costs. While nobody will shed a tear for the disgustingly rich capitalists who must destroy human life to maintain their position and the position of their firm, holding them personally responsible does little more than satisfy the vulgar desire of many on the left to see these people exterminated. As if that would change anything.
Again, I am not trying to argue that corporate executives who knowingly sell tainted products or pollute the environment should not be prosecuted. I am simply trying to say that unless this is supplemented by a deeper critique of capitalism and its structural imperatives, nothing will change.
Oliver Blackwell 