On Capitalism

Lately I've been thinking a lot about the status of our economy and world. How did we get into this mess? How are we going to get out of it?

Barack Obama has been accused (by various media outlets and commentators including Fox News of course) of implementing "socialist" programs that are going to weaken our country in the long-run. "We can't have universal health care, because it's going to cost too much." "Why should we (the rich) have to pay for that?" However, there is a an inherent flawed assumption in any argument that says the US in becoming a socialist state. The assumption is that you can only have either capitalism or socialism -- nothing in between. It completely ignores the FACT that economies/governments lie on a spectrum or even a grid among different ideologies.

Enacting new government programs does not make us automatically a socialist society over night. Sure, maybe it's a step in that direction, but the way people talk about it these days, we will be like Cuba in no time. Therefore, calling the US "socialist" is irresponsible and ignorant at best. Secondly, let's address another inherently flawed assumption, that the US is a purely capitalist state. It's just not true. Purely capitalist states wouldn't have governing bodies over our markets (Securities and Exchange Commission), libraries so anyone can read (buy your own damn books), the public school system (why should I be paying for your kid to go to school), etc. In a capitalist state, everyone would fend for themselves. However, let's just get it out there....capitalism FAILS in the end. The market is not perfect....only in your economics classes. If markets were rational, then we wouldn't be in the financial mess that we're in. Markets cannot regulate themselves. So if you say that markets can fix themselves, ask yourself why someone would buy a house for $500,000 that is now worth $350,000. Sure, now the person has a $150,000 loss and that's their problem. But, if the market was actually efficient and rational, they wouldn't be in the situation in the first place. The market doesn't know everything.

Another thing -- people who think that capitalism is the be all, end all solution, apparently haven't looked around the world. They haven't looked at all the countries that have been looted for their resources, they haven't looked at all the people starving and hungry, they haven't taken a step outside of anything that they know. So while they drive their Hummers, drinking their fancy wine, and living in the McMansions, please just tell them to give one thought to the other people who didn't have the same opportunity. "Oh, but those people are just lazy" -- this is the classic line from the capitalist pig. People don't have opportunity around the world, they can't get credit, and most importantly, they dont have a good EDUCATION.

Education is the most important thing a person can acquire. But a comprehensive, (non-biased) education is not widely available around the world. Hell, in such an advanced nation such as ours, we still have people being influenced by wackos who tell us that condoms don't prevent AIDS and evolution is a myth. Former President Bush's Every Child Left Behind Act crippled our country for eight years. So while his friends at Exxon Mobil and Halliburton had windfall profits at taxpayer expense, the future of America was slapped in the face with a substantial level of education.

Coming back around, Obama is magically becoming a socialist in the eyes of the loony conservatives because he wants people to actually have a good education and have healthcare. A successful nation needs these two things to be successful in the long-run. Why is that hard to understand. More on the socialism at another time....