Friday, June 6, 2014

The War on Capitalism

    The politicized "War on...fill in the blank" fad doesn't involve a race or gender. It isn't carried out by some media-rebranded, "right winged brigade of bigoted, Ozzy & Harriet, prude throwbacks”, as the left wing socialists wish to portray conservatives. It is a war that is waged from the left side. It's the "tolerant" left side that despises every idea that doesn't fall in line with their ideology. Where opposing viewpoints are to be "tolerantly" banned instead of ignored. Your ability to opt out based upon your own choice not to partake, which should be firmly planted in your own free-will, is to be “tolerantly” regulated with their guidance. This is achieved through silencing opposition with overreaching legislation. And this war isn't a new one. It's actually been waged for over a century. This is The War on Capitalism. To further explain this, you must dig for the root differences between conservatives and liberals. Morality is the basis between both the conservative ideology and the liberal viewpoint, with the types of morality being what make them completely different.
 
      For the Conservative point of view, you must look towards divine morality. It's the belief in an almighty God that is the force to which guidance is provided. It's what keeps conservative "capitalists" within the boundaries of godly practices and away from acting in complete selfishness. They act upon individual self-interest, not selfishness. It's the self-interest of the individual and the individual's personal interest (family, friends, neighbors, communities, & churches) that is of main concern. They involve themselves in helping the community based upon what is pleasing to God. The "fear" of God is how they are judged and governed. Freedom for them is a divine gift from God and government should be involved only to meet the necessary, barebones needs of the community. It's also the belief that, second only to God's providence; no one else will be concerned for the well being of an individual more than that of the individual themselves.
 
      As for the Liberal, a humanitarian morality is the basis of their virtue. The community or "village" is the overall concern. Decisions and guidance is managed base upon its effects on the community and “Mother Earth” (animals, nature, et al). They justify their goodness through their participation or involvement with community service groups and organizations. Ultimately, Government is what oversees this group’s ideology. Following what's legal and trying to define ethics solely from what is good or bad for others is how they achieve justification. Funding the governing body, in the form of taxation, is seen as a rightful duty or a "tithe" to allow it to continue to operate and provide for the collectives needs. But the ability to have freedom to engage in activities that are justified by the government are how they base "Freedom". They assess the intelligence level of the general public, based upon their assumptions, to justify their call to public service. It is they, who are deemed to be smart and talented enough to "know what's best" for us. The court system is used to fortify these activities in a codified manner, giving justification to its allowance into the culture and eventually, the community.
 
     Now that the differences are established, we then need to break down the concept of capitalism and the "Private Sector". An individual sees a need or assesses a situation that may pose a need or solution. Through creativity, ingenuity, and risk, the individual attempts to meet that need. In meeting that need, the individual understands they have the opportunity to financially gain a return upon their investment and risk failure or collapse if they are unsuccessful. They employ other individuals, which allow better facilitation of this need. Many times, they utilize other services or products with financial capital that would enhance the vision to which they are trying to achieve. Other individuals with creativity, ingenuity, and risk may decide to compete in this arena with a better idea to meet that need. In doing so, resources are excellently managed. Any waste of resources would result in less profit. Negative externalities from their output are minimized to avoid damaging other resources. The community can cast their "votes" if an entity is acting inappropriately by engaging in refusing to purchase their product or refusing their support of services through their buying power. Is it a perfect system? Yes & no. The system ITSELF is perfect in addressing the needs of the community, allocating the resources, and providing just the right amount to satisfy the demand. Where it falls short is not to be blamed by the system. It's those running the system. The fallible, imperfect, sinful, egotistical human that will manipulate or take advantage of the benefits & trust of the system is where it falls short. But that's where the morality comes into play. If your moral grounding is such that you have personal "lines in the sand" that you will not cross (like trustworthy business practices and respect for other individuals & customers) this line won't be crossed and the system will operate with full merit. Without it, employee's wages are not fairly allocated, resources are abused, negative externalities are ignored and finances are exploited. This is what causes the tarnishing of the capitalist system.
 
    Now that the players are introduced and the process is laid out, the war is then explained. After listening to recent comments made by Prince Charles of England (from a family funded completely by taxpayer revenue, allowing every aspect of their needs to be provided by the Government, that without the Royal designation would be considered to be on Welfare) was stated as saying "After all, it is perhaps worth bearing in mind that at the end of the day the primary purpose of capitalism should surely be to serve the wider, long-term interests and concerns of humanity."  But alas, capitalism DOES serve the wider, long term interest of humanity! It meets our needs, addresses the concerns, & provides the resources. A great example of this was Boris Yeltsin’s (Communist Russia’s Leader at the time) visit to an American grocery store in 1989, where he saw that all of the resources Russia was lacking at the time were packed on shelves in overabundance and available in different forms or flavors, Yeltsin was noted as saying, “When I saw those shelves crammed with hundreds, thousands of cans, cartons and goods of every possible sort, for the first time I felt quite frankly sick with despair for the Soviet people.” “That such a potentially super-rich country as ours has been brought to a state of such poverty! It is terrible to think of it.” The Occupy Wall Street “Movement” (Which has largely disappeared from the media) was attacking capitalism. They failed to make the case because not only did they mainly came across as disgruntled, spoiled, ex-employees that were disillusioned by the struggle up the corporate ladder, they were also were utilizing many of the benefits of a capitalist economy (iPad's & iPhones, etc.). Some were college graduates that demanded to be paid as if they earned their stripes through the ranks of a business just because they received a degree. Unfortunately for them, competition doesn’t just reside in the corporate world, but also in those vying for a career. To blame a system and not those who corrupt a system is extremely short sighted. Ultimately, Government cannot create a bureaucracy large enough or efficient enough to handle the strain of meeting the population’s needs. This should lead many to realize that a War on Capitalism is more than just being fair or just. It's about perpetuating a movement to shift freedom from the individual to the collective "village" which is run by the Government to regulate every activity. This creates a permanent underclass that will be subservient to those they elect. And the new elite that are continually elected will continue to diminish the power of our country economically to level the playing field with other countries and set the stage for a one world government. Capitalism elevates and provides prosperity for individuals which increase the power of the country. A robust economy makes it extremely difficult to remove Sovereignty. Just remember the overall question, who will regulate the regulators???