Morality, Greed, Capitalism, Socialism
I wrote this response to an article blaming capitalism for the brutality of slavery and all the other ills of society… so I share it here… I do not believe capitalism is perfect because as I note it is vulnerable to “greed”. Since we all see this term slightly differently, let me define my use of the word… it is when the absence of free markets normally present in capitalism no longer provides people (as workers and consumers) the ability to avoid abusive employers/companies because they don’t have access to other jobs or other products or the information needed to know what is available to them…
My Response:
It is naive to assume that brutality on the “plantation” was far worse than brutality in many northern factories. Where employers held employees under “economic” slavery. The same can be said for mines where young children worked in cramped spaces and men died of black lung by the age of 40. The more we seek to understand the shared abuse of workers be they slave, miners, or factory workers, the more we realize how far we have come together (regardless of race, religion, gender, etc) and how much we have in common. Thanks to a two party democratic republic that for all its flaws works better than most political systems to protect its citizens.
Capitalism is the foundation of all successful economies since it ties the desire for individuals to improve their lives to investing their time and money into productive enterprises that produce the goods and services that define much of our standard of living. We work to make our lives better and in the process it improves the lives of others.
But capitalism is prone to greed, where some employers use various means to take advantage of consumers and workers. Rush Limbaugh (someone who I rarely listen to) made one of the most insightful observations on capitalism. He said capitalism depends on morals and ethics to work and as our society has begun to lose our moral compasses we have to defer to government regulation and oversight to protect workers. Government is a poor substitute to innate morals and ethics, but it is better than nothing. I agree with that.
But throwing out the “baby” (capitalism) with the “bath water” (employer abuse) is like shooting yourself in the head to avoid saying something dumb. It makes no sense.
Finally, keep in mind, far worse is when government controls the means of production (socialism). Under capitalism, if you keep government on the outside (and avoid “crony capitalism”), you have an elected body that is suppose to protect the people. When government controls the means of production, the abuser is the government and there is no one to appeal to. Simply said, socialism establishes an intolerable conflict of interest, where the employer (abuser) is also the judge and jury in disputes. The more government is in position to determine who gets what, the less I think government is in a position to determine what is fair.
