November 12, 2021

Financialization is a shift in the purpose of corporations from producing human products to acquiring money. The money is a source of power used to create human problems. So the purpose of corporations shifts from solving human problems to creating human problems.

A simple example is the production of drop cords and plug-ins. They often are no longer made with spring metal, so the metal deforms the first time they are plugged in. The second time, they are plugged in, they are defective. Soon they need to be replaced, which channels money to the top of the power structures.

A similar result is reduction in incandescent light bulb durability. The approximate decline was as follows: During the nineteen seventies, such light bulbs were rated 20,000 hours. During the eighties, the rating was about 5,000 hours. During the nineties, it was 2,000 hours. By the time incandescent light bulbs went out of use, the rating was around 600 hours. The hours of expected use is determined by the amount of oxygen left in the bulbs causing oxidation of the metal while heated. The lifespan of the bulbs was being controlled by the amount of oxygen in the bulbs and tendency of the metal composition to oxidize. The result was buying more light bulbs and producing more pollution and nuisance for consumers, while channeling more money into the power structures dominating society.

Approximately, the purpose of every corporation was converted from producing products for the public to a financialization scheme during the 1980s and 90s.

The deterioration was a broad-scale social effect, as indicated by the term, financialization. The verbiage transformed purposes into a focus on money instead of products. The supposed purpose of corporations shifted to investors, which meant increasing profits. The fakery is visible in the fact that corporations don't need investors after they exist.

Stock buy-backs show the effect, as corporations use their excessive wealth to increase stock values, because the managers get paid in stocks, which they benefit from. Stock buy-backs used to be illegal due to their corrosive effect upon businesses; but such laws were thrown out as so-called deregulation which began with Reagan conservatives in 1981.