Capitalism shouldn’t be confused with business or anything else that’s good for you.
Simply put, capitalism is the buying and selling of someone else’s business, whether it’s the looting of companies by the Leveraged Buyout Specialists at Bain Capital, or the monopolization of a particular commodity by the likes of Enron. A capitalist by definition does not create, does not produce, and does not contribute to anything but his or her own bottom line.
Capitalism is about the use of capital to one’s own advantage while taking what other people have produced, and nothing else. It’s not about workers vs. employers except that capitalism demands the exploitation of workers because there’s profit to be had there. That's not different from the profits made in war or any natural disaster when capitalists are allowed to take advantage of the situation.
Capitalism shouldn’t be confused with investing, which takes place when a person takes ownership of some part of an ongoing business. Investing, in turn, should not be confused with “playing the market.” Remember when it used to be called that, instead of your “retirement security“? The stock market doesn’t produce anything either, with the exception of a few winners and lots of losers, and is just like playing at any other mafia run casino. The Wall Street mafia does well for itself but serves no public good. Any exception to this rule could be better achieved by someone else.
Let's review: a business that actually produces something of value is by definition not capitalism, and its investors are not capitalists. The exception is that some businesses in an unregulated economy do behave as capitalists by preying upon their weaker competitors, or preying upon the public in general while operating a legitimate front business.
Americans all think they are capitalists; having had it drilled into them for generations that capitalism is the polar opposite of communism, and that no “good” American is a communist. All the while, fewer and fewer Americans own anything themselves. They don’t realize they are charging at full speed toward living in the exact image of a communist state where the individual owns nothing, only without veneer of socialism.
Mitt Romney recently found out just how little regard Americans actually have for capitalists. Republican voters have now switched to Newt Gingrich after he pointed out just how despicable capitalists are. In SC, Mitt only won the demographic of those with an income over $200,000.
Historically, communism as it has been practiced was really indistinguishable from capitalism. The Red Chinese were able to “convert” to capitalism without changing much of anything, and they‘re about to announce a new five year plan that will make them the dominant capitalist power in the world. The Soviet elite converted to capitalism by simply doing away with their social safety nets and becoming capitalist oligarchs.
American capitalism is moving the country as fast as it can to becoming a hybrid of the Soviet, Russian Oligarch, and Chinese models. From the Soviet system: the total domination of business by gigantic centrally planned corporations (Welcome to Walmart, I am comrade greeter). From the modern Russian Oligarchic model: the total elimination of social safety nets of any kind, and from the Red Chinese model: a national security state.
The Republican base hasn’t caught on that Newt is more than happy to wield the axe for people like Mitt, as long as Newt gets to wear the crown in public. If Americans in general catch on that the Occupy movement is on to something - thanks to the revelations of Newt Gingrich - they should build him a statue, or name a prison after him.
Follow Bruce Enberg at prairie2.com
