Much is being made these days about capitalism vs. socialism, the first being presented as the natural order of things – another patriotic litmus test from the conservatives, and the second being presented as the righteous order of things – another politically correct litmus test from the liberals. There is no discussion going on of course, just name calling and insults. As usual, we are wasting a wonderful opportunity to examine a fundamental question – when is capital more important than society, and vice-versa?
Both capitalism and socialism are being treated right now as religions, and we certainly have a lot of fervent believers in both. But capitalism and socialism are more like yin and yang, two forces that must be balanced in order to achieve harmony.
We should be concentrating on identifying the best attributes of both capitalism and socialism, and figuring out how to combine the best attributes together into a whole – capitalistic socialism perhaps, or socialistic capitalism. This would be far more constructive than simply arguing and posturing as to which is superior.
Capitalism at its best rewards imagination, hard work, entrepreneurship, the willingness to take a chance, to dream of something better. Socialism at its best advances our collective future, provides a fair and equitable division of wealth, and protects the weakest of us – the young, the old, and the ill. All of us should be able to agree that these are all positive things.
We can see right now what happens when capitalism is too strong. Fewer and fewer of us make more and more, while most of us make less and less. The power to direct our society becomes concentrated in the hands of those who want to make more money through control of our laws and institutions. Our collective future is forsaken for the benefit of a few, the protection of the weak becomes an inconvenience and a burden.
And we can see from the experience of other countries what would happen here if socialism ever became too strong. Fewer and fewer of us would want to work hard, to take a chance, to invest in a new business or idea. When all is free for everyone, there is no incentive to dream or achieve. Our collective future ends up rotting away from within due to neglect and lack of effort.
This is why we need to ensure that we achieve a healthy balance between capitalism and socialism. It is not fair or reasonable to demand that our leaders declare themselves to be either a capitalist or a socialist when we really need them to be both.
What we really should be concerned about is fascism, which is overwhelming us on a daily basis. The blind trust in one ideology to the exclusion of all others, the use of lies, threats and intimidation to control and direct thought, the attempt to dictate the flow of capital and to break down the collective and supportive nature of our society – this is what we need to fear and guard against.
The excesses of capitalism – where it is accepted that some people deserve to make hundreds of times more than what the average person makes, where our best jobs are sent out of the country in the name of our businesses being more competitive, where so many people make so little that they can’t afford to pay taxes and have to rely on government assistance to survive – these excesses cannot simply be replaced by the excesses of socialism.
The excesses of socialism would be just as bad. Left unchecked, a socialistic society will develop its own ruling class that craves power and privilege just as much as any capitalistic oligarch ever would. In a system where everyone is said to be equal, some will always strive to become far more equal than the rest. Manipulation and control through political and social correctness becomes a fascist movement, breeding resentment and rebellion until the system fails and anarchy prevails.
If the ultimate failure of capitalism is greed, the ultimate failure of socialism is hypocrisy.
This is why achieving a balance between the two is so important.