Thursday, May 16, 2019

'Too Many' Bricks (1969)

From the May 1969 issue of the Socialist Standard

“Rising brick stocks worry makers” said the Times Business News on April 2. In February production had fallen and stocks were heading towards the record levels of 1967. No comments were recorded from the homeless and the overcrowded.

Those who are under the illusion that bricks are made to build houses will have some difficulty in understanding the absurd situation of how with a crying need for houses there can be a ‘surplus’ of bricks. To socialists the answer is simple: under capitalism bricks are not produced simply for use but for sale with a view to making a profit for the brick producer! If people cannot pay for the houses they need then houses will not be built. That is how capitalism works and must work.

Stocks of unused bricks beside slums and hostels for the homeless once again show that capitalism cannot serve human needs.

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