Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Just So We're Clear

I'd like to point out or clarify something, and it's a very important clarification.

The outright highway robbery that is going on now with this $700 billion is NOT the failure of capitalism. It seems there are many people out there, namely of the leftist stripe, that are heralding the problems of the economy as a "end of capitalism." Worthless professors who never set a foot outside academia and never produced one ounce of GDP, who still wear pony tails as if it were 1968, salivating as if this is the rapture they've all been waiting for. Something they "saw coming for a long time" as if capitalism was some kind of cute, novel social experiment bound to fail, but on a more spectacular level than communism did.

They could not be more wrong.

First off, it is necessary to point out a government bail out is NOT capitalism. The idea of capitalism is that companies and individuals compete and the government gets the ef out of the way. There may be some universal goods like roads, defense, judicial systems, etc the government imposes on the people, but when it comes to commerce, the government does not decide who are winners and losers. The free market, ie- the people or society does. And if banks or airlines or railroads or Leftist Lucy's Coffee Shop fails to generate more income than expenses, to hell with them, they go under. A bail out, LET ALONE A $700 billion bailout can only be described as the epitome of socialism.

Second, this is one of the rare (and I do mean rare) moments where self-avowed socialists and genuine capitalists will agree on something. We are both livid over this bail out of financial deadbeats and corrupt bankers. This is nothing more (and admittedly, I'm over-generalizing here a bit) than the rich and the poor, stealing from the hard working middle class. If anything, this should be a call to vote out pretty much every congressman up for re-election this year and to hunt down the bankers and deadbeats that did this to the nation. In any case, it seems universally agreed upon across the political spectrum that this bail out should have ramifications and consequences for the guilty, but it is vital you understand this bail out is socialist in nature, not the other way around. This should give those of you out there who "claim" to be socialists or democrats great pause to evaluate or at least understand the basic tenets of your ideology before going and trumpeting a socialist for president.

And finally, and I cannot emphasize this enough, capitalism is not a choice. It's REALITY. You can impose a socialist or a communist system all you want, the end result will be the likes of Cuba, North Korea or the USSR. It is not coincidence countries with lower taxes and higher economic freedoms grow faster, alleviate more poverty and have better standards of living. The reason why (and I want you to put this to memory) is that capitalism is an ideology based in reality. It is not based in falsehoods or "pie in the sky" hope and dreams and puppy dogs and flowers. It is based in simple principles such as;

You don't work, you don't eat.

People prefer more to less.

People will make decisions in their best interests.

There's so such thing as a free lunch.

No, you can't just print off more money.

ie-the closer your ideology, political structure, or economy is to reality, the more success you will have. The further away you get from these realities, the worse your economy will do.

This you can see in everyday life as the decisions people make, if not based in reality, suffer the consequences.

You took out a mortgage you couldn't afford? You get to file for bankruptcy.

You majored in sociology? You get a crappy job a $30,000 a year.

You drive 200 MPH on a motorcycle? You get a serious headache when you crash.

And when you make it so nobody has any incentive to work because you tax them, or you make it so there is no penalty NOT to work, or worse still incentive them not to work with a multitude of government programs, you destroy the ability of an economy to produce any kind of wealth.

So ask yourself the question; is a $700 billion bail out a product of the capitalist ideology or the socialist strain? And ask yourself the question what kind of perverse incentives does this provide you? (I for one am more than half tempted to just not pay my mortgage anymore and rack up a ton of credit card debt, and say "ef it!" Aren't you?) And then ask yourself the final question;

Why on god's green earth are you a socialist?

(And remember to buy my book! ;)

10 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:03 PM

    I tell you now Captain, this cold war between the socialists and capitalists in America is only going to be settled with another American civil war.

    I don't see how yelling in each other's faces is going to resolve it.

    My money is on the Capitalists, they are the ones who insist on owning guns. The left has a pathological fear of weaponry.

    What do you think?

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  2. Actually, even Lenin believed "He who shall work shall eat".
    Great post. I suspect Washington would be acting differently of thos was not an election year.

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  3. I completely agree that the $700B bailout is a socialist scheme and therefore a huge mistake and/or failure. But the Americans are pretty close to doing it. So isn't the US government taking a fairly giant leap over to the socialist side of things?

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  4. Anonymous9:50 PM

    Even Communist countries have capitalism; the Black Market typically provides extra food, fuel, or consumer goods that people need.

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  5. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac weren't free market organizations anyway.

    The whole mortgage thing is broken because the government had its hand in it. When people think that the government is going to bail them out, they're not going to care about the system, they're just going to get as much money for themselves as they can.

    As we saw.

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  6. Anonymous4:31 AM

    Great post!

    It should be shouted from the roof tops - capitalism isn't a choice, it isn't an imposed artificial system, it is the natural economic expression of any free people.

    Those who want to see capitalism fail are choosing serfdom.

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  7. "I tell you now Captain, this cold war between the socialists and capitalists in America is only going to be settled with another American civil war."

    With all due respect, the American Civil War resulted in 2% of the entire population dying, and 25% of the men of military age either dying or being permanently wounded in some way, shape or form. Add to that the destruction wreaked on an enormous area of the nation, and as a historian of that particular conflict, I cringe when I see people online, regardless of political ideology, toss the idea around that another such war is the solution.

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  8. Nice rant, Captain.

    One that government, in my opinion, can improve the system on is, "People will make decisions in their best interests."

    This is true. No doubt about it. Unfortunately, it can be true to the point of hurting other people while pursuing one's on self-interests. On the extreme is criminal behavior. We need some laws.

    But there are other things that a bit of regulation can help. For example, regulating emissions can make everyone healthier while providing an incentive to innovate faster.

    This isn't picking a winner or deciding which technology is the best choice. It's just a collective decision that we can be better if we try harder.

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  9. I read something recently by a leftist commentator who said, "Everyone is entitled to success per the American Dream."
    It seems that everyone's forgetting that the American Dream doesn't guarantee success, it only guarantees your opportunity to strive for success. But just as equally, if you are guaranteed a shot at success, it also guarantees your right to fail. But that success or failure is according to your own actions and is your own responsibility.

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  10. Anonymous4:17 PM

    nobody's saying the bailout is capitalism, nor that it's very connected to capitalism's demise it if it does happen, it was the ludicrous short sighted greed of the most powerful capitalists in the world, making hay while the sun shines at the expense of everybody else when it rains.

    if indeed capitalism is forced to at least retreat and regroup, it will be because it's an ultimately unsustainable system, and especially so especially when the capitalists decide to start betting with each other on CDSes worth 10x as much money as the total world GDP.

    that's not exactly socialist behaviour is it?

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