Dear Editor,
Larry Elliot's piece (GW 22nd December 2017) on the power of capitalism, especially the image of predators "munching" through prey, rang very true with me. But I think that he has omitted one critical aspect: The fact that there is not just one tier of predators and prey but rather multiple layers.
For a good part of the nineteenth century we had mill-owners exploiting workers in industrialised regions and plantation-owners dependent on slaves or serfs in many rural areas. Clear and visible exploitation! Today, as described in the article, we have corporate leviathans squeezing maximum "efficiency" (a euphemism) out of employees who are engaged "precariously". However, today there are other tiers of exploitation beyond this predator-prey relationship ...
In order to keep the "lower classes" in the West satisfied and quiet, we (the prey) are bombarded with cheap products such as clothing, food-products and indulgent travel. This is the modern equivalent of the Roman "bread and games". But the cost of this "amusement" is passed on as exploitation (e.g. Rana Plaza), cruelty (e.g. industrial meat production) and environmental damage (e.g. global warming) to other countries and to the natural world.
So this is not just a "predator-prey" relationship but rather a predator-prey-prey-prey ... relationship! One potential solution to the problem would be for us in the West to curb our indulgence. But it seems to me that we are far too attached to our "bread and games" to consider that.
Regards
