The ugly truth about capitalism is actually an ugly truth about power, and it is something that one has to consider quite seriously. The irony is that people who want to move us away from capitalism to something more socialist provide a very good example of that ugly truth.
The Superhero President
Here’s the simplest way I can describe it. Let us take for granted the idea that is held by many on the Far Left in America, and also by Far Right. The system is corrupt and only ‘our guy’ can fix it. Whether you think ‘our guy’ is Trump, Hilary Clinton, Nikki Haley, Beto O’Rourke, The Squad or the Second Coming of the Messiah, this is a decision all agree is best left in the hands of the people. In other words, it is the willful expression of pure power that the extremists of democracy want. All Power to the People. Innocent, good-hearted people like us. This is the essential bourgeois sentiment that rules in America. Whether or not your political enemies are civil, kind, thoughtful, intelligence, or competent they all get to vote and every vote should count, and every election should provide a clear winner who should get all the due power our government possesses. Otherwise it’s not of the people, by the people or for the people. We want that kind of government.
If the system is corrupt, then who did it? It’s not the people. It’s the elites. It’s a conspiracy between the Ruling Class and the Genius Class. It’s not us in the Peasant Class. We, the 85% are nowhere near the levers of power. Isn’t that obvious? This too is an evergreen operating principle within our hearts. If the American people are not getting the American dream, then it’s the fault of the System that we the people do not control. So what system are we talking about? We’re talking about the System controlled by the rich. The connected. And yet we put them there. We let them stay.
Tytler’s Warning
We are in populist times. Only small minorities of Americans are subsumed into nationalist occupations. Call them the Deep State, the Criminal Justice System, and the First Responders if you will. They think of their loyalty to the flag and the republic for which it stands. That is their livelihood. In such times, when the rest of us look inward and government (and social media) is ruled by poll, then we are in the realm of Tytler’s prediction about the failure of democracy when we discover that we can vote money into our own pockets.
“A Democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only last until the citizens discover they can vote themselves largesse out of the public treasury. After that, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that the Democracy always collapses over a loose fiscal policy, to be followed by a dictatorship, and then Democracy always collapses over a loose fiscal policy, to be followed by a dictatorship, and then a monarchy."
Attribution to Tytler is in dispute. Go ask your favorite AI what to make of that.
You and I know this is what Biden has promised to deliver with regard to student loan relief. It’s the same sentiment behind minimum wage requirements. It’s the same sentiment behind black American interest in Reparations. It’s the same short-sighted sentiment behind carving into the national defense (despite the budget for Homeland ‘Security’). Everybody wants backsheesh.
What indeed will save us from the rapacity of our fellow citizens who are prepared to break all political rules and conventions to get their government subsidies? Well, that would be capitalism. It would be the rationality of the market that works every complexity into a matter of cost/benefit analysis. Yes, I understand that we are not all self-serving maximalists, but there is no greater force short of military engagement and acts of God that puts power and control into the hands of capitalists. The investor class. The Boardroom.
If there’s one thing that we can depend upon, it is the will and determination of those who direct corporations, banks, finance companies and insurers to keep their sources of revenue flowing. It is the ability of those who lead such corporations to reap the massive benefits of making those missions successful. Although we do obsess over a handful of billionaires, there are more than enough millionaires and successful entrepreneurs dispersed throughout our nation to be accessible. It’s not a perfect meritocracy, but businesses that last are proof that competence pays. These competencies are global as are the valuable products and services that are traded over the horizon and over the years.
So is our fiscal policy loose?
Satisfaction
I’m not really sure. I am still living in the afterglow of having been the beneficiary of a good exit from a startup tech company. I lived for many years on the leading edge of those exciting developments in new business ventures - of engineers that were solving problems and innovating to expand the net capacity of America. I didn’t become wealthy, but I’m rich as compared to the standard of living I grew up with. I found good relationships among that upwardly mobile cadre of peasants. I’m prepared for living under the aegis of feudal entrepreneurs and junior capitalists. I’m prepared also for living under the aegis of dysfunctional government. I’m in California, we have both. Neither is ideal, but the Stoic survives and does not panic.
Still, I do not believe that our most skillful and ethical investors are going to allow the advantages of working in a stable and peaceful America to fall victim of a sloppy and mendacious government. I believe they will be able to find the Paul Volckers of the world. They will be able to attract the Albert Einsteins of the world. As much as we crab about Spirit Airlines, our planes don’t fall out of the sky. Our gas stations don’t run empty. Our office buildings don’t fall over. We still have great rivers and our grain harvests don’t fail. We still have judges that cannot be bribed.
It may sound confusing when I talk about the functional classes of Rulers and Geniuses without specifically identifying them by industry. I will work to be more specific, but I have gone down that path in The Deep American.
What’s important to remember is that even as global trade declines and the global policies of the American federal government as ruled by populists becomes more inbred and naval gazing, there remain plenty of Americans whose self-regard honors constant engagement with the truth. We will not let America burn. We will not let America go broke. Our livelihoods are at stake. Life has taught us how to be wise and sustain enterprises that benefit mankind. We know how to wrangle and fund. We know how to produce value.
In this capitalist view, we can sustain our Kobe Bryants and their extraordinary discipline and dedication to excellence because we can make them wealthy in open and fair competition. We produce the right kinds of winners. It is only capitalism, not government power and reward, that keep Kobe actually happy. It was capitalism that kept him from hustling NCAA players out of their tuition.
The ugly truth about capitalism is that without it, we are likely to be victims of someone extremely dedicated like Kobe Bryant if we can’t get him that money. The riches of capitalism pacifies the ambitious and keeps them from stealing our little Nissans.
Spoilage
The dark side of capitalism is that it can fund the kind of postmodernist happyland that the idle rich can sucker us poor peasants into. The upside of the dark side is that those same idlers are quite likely to rot their own lives before they do too much damage. Then again, we all can be suckered. There is co-dependence in fantasy. That’s how Woke works.
I remember that the last valuable NPR newscast I heard was when the real life daughter of one of the victims of the ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ was interviewed. That particular ethical zero was convicted for his fraud and destruction of many fortunes. She, of course, refused any quarter and spoke out about her anger that Hollywood would make a film, and thus make money, of the story of this charismatic charlatan. The tale of how we get conned is as old as history, but so is the legacy of hubris.
Capitalism will fund rich fools to believe they are immortal and immune to the laws of the universe. So they will pretend that they can control and corral classes of people with their energies and ideologies. They will pretend that their domination is God’s will. That is not the fault of capitalism; Shakespeare reminds us of the folly of kings. I must confess that Jugurtha In Chains is one of my favorite classic artworks. You can’t fool all of the people forever.
So while the rich can make more mistakes than us average Joes, those who refuse to work in brotherhood and good faith with us do not deserve our confidence. They do not deserve to hear our encounters with the harsh truth. They will thus die in their bubbles and capitalism will not save them. Let them chase the Titanic and overdose in the Chelsea Hotel.
Speaking of conspiracies, there's a docu-drama now on Netflix titled American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders, based on the work of a journalist who unraveled apparent corruption at DOJ, thought to be credible by the honorable Eliot Richardson. Richardson said that it seemed probable that the journalist was killed by interested parties — parties connected to powerful sources high in gov’t who wanted to constrain (and “own”) early 1980’s software called PROMIS owned by INSLAW Company. DOJ had been sued for $8 million, and lost to the owner of the code. Alarming stuff happened in reversal of the suit. The journalist got wind of it, did extensive research, and then turned up dead by “suicide’ — but had told his brother 3 weeks before that if anything happened to him, it “was not an accident”. Powerful film based on real interviews and news clips. The journalist’s notes vanished from his hotel room, scene of the deadly event. Grizzly stuff. Very suspicious. Well told (first episode). 4-part series : : DOCU-DRAMA
So, the elephant in the room is the question asked by Sokrates, of Thrasymachus (in The Republic): What is justice? T answers: Justice is whatever the tough guy says it is. Sok then proceeds to cause T to blush a most famous blush.
While some of the rabble are prone to believing anything hinting of conspiracy, some of these scams are factual. (Our mileage may vary in determining which ones.) But how to hold community together, and deter self-dealing is an art requiring dedication and resolve. ~eric. MeridaGOround.com