IT'S CAPITALISM, STUPID.
Christopher Robin Cox
During Bill Clinton's Presidential campaign against George H.W. Bush in 1992, he spoke the now infamous words “It's the economy, stupid,” to a gaggle of media all desperate for a new buzz phrase. I even caught myself using it every so often, during some dope-induced debate with other twenty-somethings who, like me, didn't know jack about socioeconomics in the United States. Eighteen years later, it has become clear to me how misleading, and maybe even propagandist, that statement was. But the truth would have made a lot of cherished and charismatic people look buffoonish.
It is not, nor has it ever been, the economy that leads us to wars of occupation in the Middle East. It is not the economy that makes our government support dictators around the world, even when there are internationally recognized citizen-led movements in opposition to those leaders. It was not the economy that made our CIA go into Central America and wreck havoc that still rages today. It is not the economy that gives us cause to instigate coup d'etats against democratically elected leaders like Chavez in Venezuela, Morales in Bolivia, and Correra in Ecuador. It is not the economy that causes us to make budget cuts to the social programs that offer a basic standard of living to the least among us. It was, and has always been, capitalism at the root of these disastrous decisions.
By definition, the economy is nothing more than the overall collection of inter-related economic production and consumption activities which aid in determining how resources are allocated in a given geographical location. Capitalism is the engine of our economy, and like the proverbial gas-guzzling engine of an oversized American car, the brand of capitalism we are using today is antiquated at best. At worst, it's inhumane and criminal.
An economic system based primarily on competition as the main determining factor in the distribution of wealth, posses inherent savage inequalities. The artists, writers, thinkers, and all others who care first about their craft, are essentially left in the position of hoping to be in the small minority who “make it”. Along with the craftsman and thinkers, those who have physical or psychological conditions that limit their competitive participation are left behind as well, for they can not possibly turn a profit. Of course, the vicious bulls of capitalism will surely charge on. And they will say, regardless of physical or psychological condition, that every person is free to pursue their heart's content in America.
Imagine for a moment what would happen if there were to be an open-ended public debate in this country about the real-life characteristics of capitalism, aired freely to all Americans, with participants from all around the world invited. That debate, if done objectively, would lead to a revolutionary change in the way Americans view themselves and their role in humanity. It would also separate out those who are on the side of pure, unfettered competition as the best method of achieving the highest good for the most people, versus those who are on the side of first providing for the least among us; a distinction that ought to be made in a country that posses the largest separation between rich and poor in the industrialized world.
It is not, nor has it ever been, the economy that leads us to wars of occupation in the Middle East. It is not the economy that makes our government support dictators around the world, even when there are internationally recognized citizen-led movements in opposition to those leaders. It was not the economy that made our CIA go into Central America and wreck havoc that still rages today. It is not the economy that gives us cause to instigate coup d'etats against democratically elected leaders like Chavez in Venezuela, Morales in Bolivia, and Correra in Ecuador. It is not the economy that causes us to make budget cuts to the social programs that offer a basic standard of living to the least among us. It was, and has always been, capitalism at the root of these disastrous decisions.
By definition, the economy is nothing more than the overall collection of inter-related economic production and consumption activities which aid in determining how resources are allocated in a given geographical location. Capitalism is the engine of our economy, and like the proverbial gas-guzzling engine of an oversized American car, the brand of capitalism we are using today is antiquated at best. At worst, it's inhumane and criminal.
An economic system based primarily on competition as the main determining factor in the distribution of wealth, posses inherent savage inequalities. The artists, writers, thinkers, and all others who care first about their craft, are essentially left in the position of hoping to be in the small minority who “make it”. Along with the craftsman and thinkers, those who have physical or psychological conditions that limit their competitive participation are left behind as well, for they can not possibly turn a profit. Of course, the vicious bulls of capitalism will surely charge on. And they will say, regardless of physical or psychological condition, that every person is free to pursue their heart's content in America.
Imagine for a moment what would happen if there were to be an open-ended public debate in this country about the real-life characteristics of capitalism, aired freely to all Americans, with participants from all around the world invited. That debate, if done objectively, would lead to a revolutionary change in the way Americans view themselves and their role in humanity. It would also separate out those who are on the side of pure, unfettered competition as the best method of achieving the highest good for the most people, versus those who are on the side of first providing for the least among us; a distinction that ought to be made in a country that posses the largest separation between rich and poor in the industrialized world.
Capitalism, along with its inherent misconceptions, is the most counter-revolutionary and conservative force in America. In the words of Andy Grove, ex-CEO of Intel, “The goal of the new capitalism is to shoot the wounded.” The American people are lying upon the ground in anguish, and it is the boot heel of capitalism that is keeping them there. Contrary to popular belief, it is not the best system that has been tried. It is the system that is most preferred among the world's most corrupt and powerful elite.
Hitler was a capitalist. He called it "National Socialism.” In Nazi Germany, the means of production was solely owned by private corporations and individuals, who ultimately had to answer to the Nazi Party. This is not an assertion that the American government resembles the Nazi Party of World War II Germany; it is one that points out the simple truth that the engine driving the American economy is exactly the same as that which drove the economy of Nazi Germany.
Hitler was a capitalist. He called it "National Socialism.” In Nazi Germany, the means of production was solely owned by private corporations and individuals, who ultimately had to answer to the Nazi Party. This is not an assertion that the American government resembles the Nazi Party of World War II Germany; it is one that points out the simple truth that the engine driving the American economy is exactly the same as that which drove the economy of Nazi Germany.
To Mr. Clinton I say, it's capitalism, stupid. What we need in America is a lot less of Bill Clinton's entertaining, but misguided concepts, and a lot more debate about the soul of America, and what we stand for as a people. The engine of our economy needs to be methodically dismantled, piece by piece, so that it can be rebuilt by the people.
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