For a society that proclaims itself so advanced and
forward-thinking, Americans believe an awful lot of mythology. I write frequently about the myth of “Equal
Opportunity.” Today, I am going to talk
about the myth of the “American Free Market Economy.” Before I explain why it doesn't really exist, let’s back up and define the different possible
economic systems:
- Traditional: Reward for work and the exchange of property and services is completely shaped by the traditions of a society. Most of the world operates under this system. The down side to a traditional economy is that accumulation of surplus (wealth) is difficult, if not impossible.
- Command (Communism): The government exerts control over wages and the exchange of goods and services. There are few countries with pure command economies (I think Cuba might be the only one) which is probably evidence that it doesn’t work well. The obvious disadvantages to this system are greed, nepotism, and corruption. People in power may benefit unfairly by controlling the economy.
- Market (Capitalism): Control of industry is, at least theoretically, in the hands of the individual. It is influenced exclusively (again, theoretically) by the available supply of goods and services and the demand for those goods and services. Government’s limited role in a market economy is to provide national infrastructure, national defense, and protection against monopolies. There are no countries in the world with pure market economies, which could be an indication that they don’t really work that well in practice. Despite our American love affair with the idea of a pure market economy, it is plagued with many pitfalls and disadvantages, principally greed, nepotism, and corruption. People in power may benefit unfairly by controlling the economy.
- Mixed (Socialism): Individuals control the economy within a framework of governmental intervention which may range from outright control of certain industries to selective control of only certain industries, or indirect control through regulation. Almost all industrialized nations fall somewhere in the spectrum of a socialized economy. Perhaps that is an indication that it often works better than other economic systems?
Do you want to be assured that the new heart medication your doctor just prescribed for you is safe, effective and appropriate for you? Sorry. In a pure market there are no such assurances, because there are no regulations to protect you. There is no FDA, and there is no licensing process to make sure physicians are properly trained. And while we are thinking about health care, I hope we are all prepared to pay for everything out of pocket. We would have to agree that health insurance is completely privatized and free of any regulations to protect us from getting ripped off, or else we have to pay it all ourselves. Do you want to go out to eat at that fancy new restaurant? What about if there is no health Department to ensure that an establishment is clean and food is prepared and stored properly? The market will eventually decide, right? If enough people die of improper medical treatment or food poisoning, no one will pay good money for that medicine, that doctor, or that meal.
We have to agree that we trust human nature enough to
believe that every business owner will offer a fair living wage to American adults
rather than exploiting children or importing foreign workers who will work much
cheaper. After all, why would we have child
labor laws or immigration laws if the government is only going to provide roads
and an army? We have to agree that we
trust every employer to provide a safe working environment with no regulations
or agencies for oversight. I don’t know
about you, but I am unwilling to go back to the good ole’ days of the early
1900s. No thank you; I think it is
pretty well established that’s not a good idea
We have to agree that we are all ok with the “work or don’t
eat” philosophy. There would be no
social programs to rely on when you lose a limb in the unregulated factory you
used to work at, or when your company eventually goes under because the heart
medicine it made killed too many people and no one will buy it anymore. So…
What happens? Do we have people
starving in the street and urchins running around barefoot selling newspapers
and matchbooks? Either that, or we have
to agree that we trust human nature enough to believe that our employers and
neighbors will cheerfully and selflessly provide for us and our children , indefinitely, if tragedy strikes.
We have to decide that we don’t believe in corruption. We have to trust that the owner of the heart
medicine factory won’t take all that money he made killing people and buy congressmen
to look the other way as he creates a monopoly. We have to expect he won't take the opportunity to build a new medicine factory empire that drives
all the local apothecaries out of business, leaving him free to control supply
and inflate demand.
We would have to be OK with either homeschooling all our children
or paying ourselves for private schools or tutors.
A Market system makes no allowance for educating its citizens. We have to agree that we trust every person’s
ability and budget to educate the next generation. We have to decide we trust people never to
have children they can’t really care for.
We have to believe that property owners would never discriminate in renting
or selling housing, and that all our homes would be safely built and maintained
with no agency to inspect or regulate building standards.
We have to think that it would never happen that an oil baron could use his money and power to engage in price gouging at the gas pump. We would have to be willing to bay $25 a gallon for
gas. Have I made my point? Personally, I am not willing to say I trust
in any of those things. And neither are
you. We have already decided it doesn’t work to trust
human nature to such a degree. That is
why we have labor laws and building codes. That is why we have public health
codes and licensure of certain professions.
That is why we are already practicing
Socialism. You might as well stop panicking at the idea because we all became Socialists the minute we realized we needed legal protection from fraud, malfeasance, and good old-fashioned greed. I would submit that the
most pertinent economics question is not whether some degree of Socialism may be better than pure Capitalism,
but rather, why does Socialism work well in some instances and not others?
Perhaps the deciding factor in whether Socialism is going to
work well is whether the working relationship between the citizenry and the government
is functional. When Socialism is instituted through the use of force, clearly the outcome is probably not going to be good. However, when the will of the people requires common sense economic and social policies, and their political leaders listen and respond, a stronger nation results. In other words, Socialism plus dictatorship equals failure. Socialism plus democracy equals, if not complete success, at least a system better than corrupted Capitalism, such as we have now in the US.
That's where we are, friends. We are not choosing between true, glorious, everybody-has-a-chance-to-succeed Capitalism and evil Communism, despite what people may be trying to convince you. We are choosing between Democratic Socialism and a corrupted, fake Capitalism--a version which will not engender a healthy nation and economy because it is not under-girded with equality of opportunity. American-style Capitalism is rigged to benefit the rich, the powerful and the white. Come on; be honest. You know it's true.
That's where we are, friends. We are not choosing between true, glorious, everybody-has-a-chance-to-succeed Capitalism and evil Communism, despite what people may be trying to convince you. We are choosing between Democratic Socialism and a corrupted, fake Capitalism--a version which will not engender a healthy nation and economy because it is not under-girded with equality of opportunity. American-style Capitalism is rigged to benefit the rich, the powerful and the white. Come on; be honest. You know it's true.
Today, our elected officials have grown almost entirely out of touch with the people. That is our problem. Not food stamps or the prospects of universal health care and free college—corrupt government officials and leaders. There is much that needs fixing in the US, but no repair is happening until we fix our political system. As long as we, the people, continue to elect the same old politicians we are stuck with a bunch of broken, outright crappy systems. As long as we allow people who are supposed to be working for us to continue spending all of their time wheeling and dealing off-camera with big money, we are stuck. Until we address campaign finance reform, we are stuck. Until we institute some reasonable term limits, we are stuck.
As long as we allow ourselves to be bamboozled by the bald men behind the curtain, distracting us with smoke and lights, we are going to be controlled by the Wizard--stuck and powerless. We are so riled up by sensationalism we are just accepting what everyone is telling us, rather than using our own eyes to see for ourselves that the wizard is just an illusion created by political con artists. We are so hypnotized by Fox News, Youtube, and the latest Kardashian scandal that we’ve given up our power at the ballot box. We need to wake up!
How do we fix it? I
have a few ideas. Shocker, I know.
- Quit watching the side show. Left wing and right wing both belong to the same bird. Stop supporting your political Party, and start supporting your neighbor and your community. Stop thinking in terms of Republican and Democrat, and start using your own brain
- Expect better. Do you find it acceptable for you employee to refuse to do their job? Then stop allowing Congress to shirk their duties because they don’t want to cooperate with the President. Would you hire someone with questionable ethics at your law firm? Then don’t send her to the White House. Would you spend $27 million to teach people in Morocco to design pottery? Then call out Congress for doing just that in the 2012 US budget. Would you invite Trump to teach ethics to your kids? Then don’t inflict his bigotry on the nation. Would you keep hiring the same plumber if he kept messing up your pipes? Then why keep hiring the same politicians that have messed up our nation? As far as I am concerned, if we re-elect a single Republican in Congress we deserve what we get. And the Democrats are just as bad. We need a brand new Congress. These people are not looking out for you and me. They just aren’t.
- Educate yourself. It’s not going to happen on Facebook; you’re going to have to read a real book. And then another one and another one after that. Make it a point to learn about things you don’t agree with. At the very least you’ll be able to present an informed argument. Who knows, you may find out you are more willing to compromise than you realize.
- Talk to people. Stop forming your opinions based on a sound bites via social media. Engage in real life interactions with people who are different than you. On purpose. Are you against raising the minimum wage? Make it a point to talk to people who are living on minimum wage. Do you think that there’s too much violence in law enforcement? Engage with your local police department. Do you think the opposite? Talk to people who have experienced excessive police force. How can we change anything if we don’t talk to each other and learn from one another?
- Think globally. I’m not against being patriotic, by any means, but in today’s world we all impact each other in ways never before seen. We must begin to consider what’s good for all, not just what’s good for people like me, or my city, or my state. We need to think bigger.
- Quit electing white men all the time! Especially rich ones. Is that harsh? Absolutely. But if we want to get something different, we have to elect someone different. 80% of both the House and Senate are male. 80% of the House and about 90% of the Senate are white. Well, gaaawllee! I wonder why we are still struggling with institutional racism and male dominance? Lets do better, shall we?
- Be willing to get uncomfortable in order to learn. Challenging yourself is even harder than challenging “the system.” Allowing others the same freedoms and privileges you want to enjoy may make you uncomfortable. That’s to be expected. Look at it this way. At my church, we make a deliberate effort to be inclusive of many ethnicities, economic backgrounds, and faith traditions. One of the things I’ve learned is that if I expect to be comfortable 100% of the time, I am expecting someone else to be UNcomfortable 100% of the time. What gives me that right? Nothing. Not a damn thing.
