Damn Straight

Living with Capitalism

                Capitalism as a means of attaining social justice is failing. Like our religions, our monarchies, our peoples republics and our spokes councils, capitalism caries the promise of giving you a fair shake. And like them all it fails. The free market does not encourage competition but rather monopoly. The invisible hand will do little more than bitch slap you back into the mall.

                There will be those that will argue that what we see today is not capitalism but rather a perversion, a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It’s a moot point more akin to arguing that the soviet union was not about communism, that the crusades had nothing to do with Christianity, that pacifism does not appease fascism.

                Whatever the ideology, whatever the idea, purity can never be attained. It doesn’t exist. If we are willing to re-examine capitalism time and again in an effort to make it work, then why can’t we re-examine socialism, communism, anarchism? None of these hold all the answers. All of them hold some.

                Capitalism is not going to disappear but that does not mean that we should not challenge it’s orthodoxies, pry apart its paradoxes demand that it share the stage with other ideas.