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! ;)