All of the essential elements of unrestrained capitalism are brought together in an excellent, un-put-downable read from Mother Jones’ Ted Genoways. It’s a few months old, but nothing has changed since.

This saga of the savagery of Hormel Foods is a microcosm of how The System works, a harrowing account of the relentless crushing of the human spirit, of waste, hopelessness and cruelty—the inevitable by-products of the inventiveness and resilience in the service of profit-taking that define this set of social relations.

Ted Genoways’ story has it all: undocumented immigrants, a mysterious, crippling disease, all-pervasive fear, the amoral exercise of power to maim and crush both body and soul. One broken man sums it up for the author in a single sentence:

He asked me not to use his real name for this article, fearing it might hurt his application at McDonald’s.

This will test the mettle of the most seasoned libertarian. Grab a coffee, pour something strong into it, read and then try to imagine an alternative. If you can, be prepared to fight for it.