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(Mis)Understanding Capitalism and Greed Recently (August, 2007) in Church at the beginning of his sermon, our priest and pastor stated that our (America's) capitalistic system is greedy. Many liberals and Democrats who espouse populist sentiments also focus upon the greed of those people who have made substantial wealth in our system, people who are then to be soaked through ever higher taxes to help those who do not have as much. These people either do not understand or deliberately misrepresent the system for the purpose of personal political gain. In fact the system of capitalism is neither greedy nor charitable. People within the system can be either greedy or charitable or a mixture of both. I know greedy people and charitable people. If you look at what is actually done through different economic systems, capitalism comes out the best. And the less we have in restrictions and regulations, the better the system works. Those people who are at the bottom of the economic ladder in this country are far better off than people who live under communist rule or under totalitarian regimes which do not have capitalistic economic systems. One only needs to look at the economic collapse of the Soviet Union and the condition of East Germany when it was reunited with West Germany. Look also at the conditions in Cuba, Haiti, the theocracies in the Middle East and the underdeveloped countries in sub-Sahara Africa. The wealthiest people in those countries who are not in the ruling class or supported by the ruling class are generally poorer than than the poorest people in America. Most of the help which is received by those in need in these various countries also comes from the United States with much more coming from private individuals and businesses than the government. Look also at the developments over time which have improved the lives of people. Medicines, medical devices, different types of machines, means of moving people to provide better and faster response to emergencies, different and new forms of energy, processes for improving the environment are being or have been developed primarily in capitalist systems. There are greedy people who are rich and do not use their excess to help those most in need. There are also many rich people who have helped others through different charities throughout our history - the Fords, the Carnegies and the Rockefellers to name a few. Today one can look at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates or the many athletes, such as Dwayne Wade, who set up charities to help those most in need. One can also look at the people who work with those most in need and eschew higher paying jobs in order to provide such assistance, many of whom are supported by the generosity of others and not by government. The attitude of helping others who are in need is seen in all economic strata in this country. White collar workers, blue collar workers and poor alike generally tend to be generous and try to help their neighbors who are in need. Even our government could not do as much for people if it were not for capitalism. Government produces nothing, but only uses some of what others produce to pay for services or goods. Again, looking at Communist or totalitarian countries without capitalist systems, you will find that those countries cannot or do not do as much for those in need in their countries. Looking again at this country, much of what is provided to those in need is provided through private charities and not the government. While government may sometimes provide support for these private charities, most of their support comes from private individuals and businesses. It would be well for people to quit dumping on the system which allows for the largesse that helps so many people in this country and throughout the world. Doing so and putting strictures on the system will ultimately undermine that which provides the ability to help so many. |
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