The Capitalism Debate
Tom Allen (HI500010@brownvm.brown.edu)
Mon, 23 Dec 96 14:22:05 EST
Hello All,
I just thought that I too would throw in a few ideas of my own about
this capitalism thing. Firstly, the exchange of goods for money, or for other
goods valued in monetary terms is not definitively capitalistic. This is merel
y trade, and has been going on since civilization began. Whether one accepts A
dam Smith's or Karl Marx's approach to capitalism, it involves a great deal mor
e than an exchange of goods and services at a profit.
What most people seem to be calling capitalism is merely greed and pr
ofit maximization, two evils that humanity has been decrying for ever. The mal
aise may be particularly acute in America because we live in a democratic socie
ty where people believe that the the only real measure of success, and therefor
e social status, is wealth. This explains why so many Americans are willing to
sacrifice their quality of life for a higher salary, and why most are so ambiv
alent toward the behavior of corporations. While I think most of us have an al
most instinctive distaste for the activities of these Goliaths, this feeling is
at odds with an equally well-rooted conviction that the behavior of corporate
representatives is justified, and even admirable because they are making money
for themselves and for the stock holders.
Corporations and corporate culture are not anomolous to America's dem
ocratic society, they are an aspect and expression of our culture. It is very
easy, of course, to set up some sort of bogeyman like capitalism and throw ston
es at it, but the real problem with American society, if problem there is, invo
lves a great deal more than a simple business structure, or socio-economic syst
em.
Tom Allen