Capitalism & Socialism: Regulating Democracy

How do we define capitalism in a practical sense. Capitalism, it seems to me, can be defined in practice as the unfettered acquisition of  money and power by individuals, or by small groups of people for their personal benefit. Sometimes it's called a "Free Market Economy." It is marked by ever increasing efforts to deregulate all economic enterprise. It is an economic system. We've seen just in the past months the depths that deregulation can take us.  

Democracy is often associated with or confused with capitalism, but democracy is a political system. Democracy is marked by an effort to distribute wealth and power among the people, and uses such phrases as "Of the people, by the people and for the people." Democracy represents, in its best form, a balance of political power between the rich and the middle class and poor, between the rights of the majority balanced against the rights of the various minorities. Democracy and capitalism are, in practice, antithetical.

But the promise of democracy (too often equated with freedom) is often proffered to those from whom the capitalist ruling classes wish to trade or steal. This has always, to date, been a false offer, for those who rule democracies are always the rich and powerful, and are interested in maintaining and increasing their wealth and power, and only offer an illusion of power sharing, for the rich never give up their privileges. A vote taken in a democracy seldom leads to the election of leaders who will fight for the rights of the middle and lower classes. Such leaders in any capitalistic or in any society at all, whether communist, capitalist or socialist, quickly become co-opted by capitalist leaders, or are destroyed as was Senator Paul Wellstone, or Bobby Kennedy.  

Socialism, as practiced in the United States and particularly in Scandinavian nations, combines some aspects of democracy such as the vote and habeas corpus, and a sharing of income between rich and poor, but allows some private ownership and profit from capitalistic enterprise. It is a both a political and an economic system. Socialism regulates how much profit may be made from the labor of others, and for that reason is always soundly condemned by most rich people in the world. Socialism offers a health net and a welfare net to help those who can no longer take care of themselves. It is thought to be less efficient in building a wealthy society than capitalism, but it takes care of more people. Yet it is not a popular system for many reasons, the primary one being that the wealthy constantly propagandize and organize against it, and fear it will cut into their profits.  

America is more socialistic than most rich people would like. Most schools, postal services, and governmental offices are socialistic; they are run or controlled by public funds for the public good. The military is generally supported by public funds, though we have for the first time an enormous privatized army of mercenaries (supported by public funds), and the military itself is led by devoutly self-interested capitalistic leaders. They are willing to fight for America, but they are also extremely interested in moving up the ladder of command. Anything supported by public funds for the public good is by definition socialistic. Highways maintained by public funds obtained from taxes are socialistic highways. It is impossible for me to imagine a functioning nation not being socialistic to a great degree.

If we tried to have an entirely capitalistic military, we might wish to hire 20 million cheap soldiers from Asia or Africa who primarily supported themselves by wars. Private enterprise at work. But to follow the example to its ridiculous end, they would be unlikely to support America in wars that were not profitable to themselves. The existing private armies, such as the Blackwater mercenaries, are very dangerous to America, for they can be used by anyone willing to pay them, whether in the interests of America or not. And mercenaries often refuse to take risks that seriously threaten profits.  

Terms such as outsourcing, or deregulation, or private enterprise, or reducing the size of the government are capitalistic in nature. Taxation, on the other hand, is socialistic in nature, except when it is expropriated by capitalistic leaders at the top for their own purposes.  Taxation is a socialistic attempt to spread services and wealth around through the entire population. But such taxes can be and have been requisitioned by well-positioned capitalists.  

It could be argued that bailouts and handouts to private corporations such as Fannie Mae and Boeing are capitalistic in nature, since they primarily benefit the few rich.  These bailouts have been called corporate welfare, but welfare by definition supports the poor or the mass of people. The recent bailouts are more properly designated gifts, although there is some talk about their being "investments." This talk is spread by the rich who benefit from the bailouts. The public is never going to get a profitable return on bailout money, nor will any of the returns we do get be of much benefit to the mass of people.  

One could argue that we have a socialistic infrastructure run by capitalistic leaders. Wherever capitalists can make a dollar, they will do so, and so they will take profit from public sources, such as schools, that might otherwise benefit the mass of people. No Child Left Behind has been a capitalistic feeding frenzy for McGraw-Hill and other testing corporations, as well as a catastrophe for kids.

On one hand, it would be socialistic to buy up private homes to keep them from foreclosure so the great mass of home buyers could benefit. On the other, it could well be considered a capitalistic venture, buying homes at reduced prices for profitable returns later when the market rebounds, if it does. Socialism is here to stay. It's part of our legal structure, part of our government.

We are neither a true democracy nor a completely capitalistic nation. The ideals of democracy are nearly identical to the true ideals of communism. Communism is an effort to share all things equally. Democracy, at its best, is almost the same. "Of the people, by the people, and for the people," is not that different from the communist creed of "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs." We are not mature enough for either system. We are caught in the adolescent stages of greed and mistrust. If we are to survive as a civilization, we must quickly grow up and learn to share and work together for a common cause. We have global catastrophes going on right now, and we can only solve them together. Not even the very rich can protect themselves from the effects of unregulated global warming.

Obama may know and even agree with much that we think is socialistic, but his ability to move against the tides of capitalism is not much.  

 JAMES LECUYER

Comments

[Morgen Underhill]

Amen, Jim.

It seems that this all arises from the conflict between the individually minded, who seek to better themselves and the people immediately around them, and the civic minded whose goal is ultimately to better our community, nation, or world by ensuring that *everyone* is more educated, and that *everyone* is given the health care they need.

It's all priorities and scale. Do you want to be richer, more powerful, more intelligent, and healthier than your peers, or do you want these to be qualities that your neighborhood, nation, or planet is known for above other neighborhoods, nations, or planets? (pending the discovery of planets we can compare ourselves to, of course)

[Summer Rhodes]

Not only is there nothing wrong with capitalism, it's known that we do not act without getting a reward. With so many people on earth, it's important to modify that capitalism, though-- with some social programs for the common good. Those might include a true national health care program, inexpensive pharmaceuticals, an excellent education for all children-- with access to college and trade schools for achievers, a healthy nutrition program associated with schools for all children, family planning information and resources for all children and adults, etc.