Wealth for the Fittest
“[Capitalism] has resolved personal worth into exchange value, and in place of the numberless indefeasible chartered freedoms, has set up that single, unconscionable freedom — Free Trade.”[1]
In light of the fact that we live in a society which calls itself, “capitalist,” let’s explore this idea a bit further. At its core, capitalism is the belief that individuals can create wealth for themselves through merit — be it hard work, intelligence or ingenuity. This concept in itself is admirable and very difficult to argue. Obviously a society which encourages independence and excellence in each individual is something we believe is a worthy goal. However, this truth is hidden within many distortions. The first of which is the illusion of property, that we acquire wealth, power, and rights by the accumulation — hoarding — of things and man hours. Each of these is an abstract concept and can be difficult to quantify. Especially now, as we move into the “intellectual property” era and race to patent ideas. Ideas! The very core of creativity. It becomes a question of what is ownable and are there limits on what can be bought and sold? And finally, where is there room for virtue in a game where “he who dies with the most toys, wins.”
Our society also has a socialist (Communism, Jr.) slant, which leads many to believe in a dualism between freedom/capitalism and security/socialism. In this way there is a belief we must trade certain freedoms for certain securities. For example, trading our capital for our social security; compete while you are young and able and be cared for when you are old and feeble. This is, however, also an illusion as evidenced by the fact that there will be no “social security” for my generation. It is just a cleverly named tax wrapped up in the soft blanket of safety.
[1] Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels , The Communist Manifesto, (Chicago: Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company, 1996), 222.
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Tom Humes
I don’t think SS is going anywhere regardless of the fear factor machine.
“If wealth were a worthy goal, Britney would be a happy camper”