by Bobby Bah

Dear Capitalism,
You’ve made friends, and you’ve made even more enemies, but we stick to you. Through the loops and recessions, and even the great depression. You’ve sparked creativity and fostered unfathomable greed. You started wars, and funded international charities. You’ve spread through the world with Reaganomics, and bolstered the global economy through the late 20th century, but I feel I should say something that has been long overdue. We are a nation of democracy that demands change and growth along with our evolving world; you Capitalism, need to do better. Are you truly the best that we, America, deserve?

As with every relationship, America and Capitalism has had its “rough patches”, with the earliest being slavery. Slavery provided the country, and more specifically, the south, with a booming agriculturally based economy. Slavery did so well for the country, that even founding fathers like Thomas Jefferson suggested we become a full-fledged agrarian society. Yet fortunately the country saw the error of its ways and shifted away from slavery. This shift, not too drastic, began the birth of the Industrial revolution when capitalism truly came into fruition in America.

The boom of the American economy came fast and swift, affecting everyone from the poor to rich, the disparaged to the benevolent, and from the old to the young. Enemies were made, most notably in Europe with the communist and socialist movement among Marxist thinkers who dreamed of a world that freed them from Capitalism’s grasps. But alas very few can escape the enticing world of greed, glamour and speedy progress that capitalism has to offer. And what struggles were not overseas, were plentiful on the home front.

Union Strikes, walkouts, and scabs were common themes in the dawn of the 20th century, when the battle against monopolies and basic human right were waged. The people saw the rights of people marginalized due to the ever-growing power of the major companies that represented steel, oil, and finance. These were merely setbacks, or a means to an end, for what would eventually become a jubilant time of the “Swingin’ 20’s” when vast wealth, art film and literature was at its peak along with increasing technological advancements never been seen before.

Yet with every addiction, there comes the crash. This crash being represented in The Great Depression, made us lose faith in the banks that we rely on, the value of a dollar sank to an unprecedented level, and we began to panic. We over-speculated the power of the dollar in the market and the true colors began to show for our countries mighty Capitalism, the economic symbol of Democracy.

Eventually, like all great fighters in the championship fight, we recovered from the big hit, got up and took another jab at it. Soon this becomes routine, the country ends up going through cycles of recovery. After a big dip in the market, it is followed by slow gains, and then there becomes a boost or bubble, which represents prosperity in the financial market, only to be followed by another big dip in the economy. The most recent phenomenon, being what experts are now calling “The Great Recession” in 2009.

Constant inflation, large government spending, in order to bail out companies that are deemed “Too Big to Fail”, disparities in the spread of wealth throughout the American Economy and its citizens are all symptoms of failed economies throughout capitalism’s reign. How often must we put ourselves through the torture of having an economy, which goes through a proverbial roller coaster every few decades?

Must we be complacent with the infrastructure because the few benefit so largely from its low hanging fruit, or will we learn to regulate, change, diversify our economy in order to adjust to this new world we live in. Many believe these questions are considered dangerous, Marxist, and challenge our democracy and convenient way of life; but I argue that questions like these simply promote democracy. Questions and critique promote the betterment of a nation and it’s functions.

Letter to Capitalism

Did the world not adjust from it’s simple feudal system when, it was evident that, you, capitalism seemed to benefit the people more? Democracy is a product of philosophical thought, debated over centuries of the human condition, and so I believe that Capitalism should be the same. This is not necessarily an argument against Capitalism but is simply a critique of how it could evolve into a better system. The ultra-right wing accuse Obama of communism and socialism for trying to regulate the economy, raise taxes, or try to change the status-quo of what we consider the normal route of Capitalism. Should we simply settle for the cyclical routine of our current economy, when we now have banks that are as bad and corrupt as any other totalitarian government?

We put our countries livelihood on the hopes that large investment banks and securities will follow the rules, play along, and watch out for the little people. Sadly that isn’t the case. Why stick to the rules when there is way more profit in breaking them? There seems to not be any consequences for those not playing the game correctly. It’s as if all of America is playing poker, and the super wealthy get unlimited chips. So I say to you capitalism, reform yourself, for the better, so that we can all benefit, and have faith again in what has been interesting sort of love story for Democracy and Capitalism.

Sincerely,

A concerned citizen