I, a common man, can only stand at the sidelines watching the chaos in the global capitalist arena. I, like many others, have seen the rise of the i-banks, the roaring pay days of Wall Street, the wave of rapid modernization of the emerging markets bringing them together with the developed Western markets, the massive industrial expansion plans that are roiling in dust now, then the impending gloom ensued by the irrationality and hubris practised during the hay days of capitalism and then the downfall of the goliaths of high-finance and the begging cries of those corporations that had aimed to reach for the stars but unfortunately landed in gutters. I have seen it all, all that a common man can see through his innocent eyes and unmanipulative mind, about the ways of the world. And as every common man would wonder, when will this vicious cycle end???
Pick up any news magazine or wire service and bright are the chances of seeing some big corporation being rescued by the government of the country it belongs to. Companies given lifelines, bridge loans, bankruptcy protection and what not. Isn't this what you can call capitalism on steroids? There are side effects that are being ignored in a mad scramble to survive, the consequences can come later. In an ideal (read steroidal) world, a corporation big enough would never fail, which essentially means that no matter what you do, no matter how much you screw-up, Uncle Sam or his counterparts will save you. In short, it's a license to screw-up as much as you want.
I feel capitalists through the ages have not only become more perverted but also have become equally good at hiding their perversion when it suits their end. On one hand, capitalism argues for no government intervention in the markets, in Greenspan-speak laissez faire capitalism. On the other hand, the same government becomes an object of worship when the free ways of free markets don't seem to work. The hypocratic stance is compounded by the fact that governments are criticised for not taking an interest in saving the companies from failing and when it demands for more regulation in return to save the markets from further upheavels, the capitalists cry foul for too much government interference in business.
Agreed that we vote a government into power in liberal democracies to make sure that they serve our common interests, that the interests of all sections are taken into account and appropriate provisions be made in government policies to take care of demands, but, there is a simply a limit to the amount of concessions that can be extracted from policymakers in the name of free markets or bailouts. The inherent flaw in the entire capitalistic mindset is the extereme subservience it demands out of government. The government is supposed to relax the rules when we want them to be relaxed to suit our needs and then we expect the government to pull us out of doom by using its monetary muscle when we blow up and then the government is supposed to stand back in a corner and watch us go about our business in the laissez-faire way. I think this is blatantly unfair. It simply shows how easy it is for a bunch of rich capitalists to hold the economy to ransom and then do what they please expecting no intereference from the government whose job is to not just serve the capitalists but also the common man.
I find myself grumbling: "Down with capitalist pigs!"
Pick up any news magazine or wire service and bright are the chances of seeing some big corporation being rescued by the government of the country it belongs to. Companies given lifelines, bridge loans, bankruptcy protection and what not. Isn't this what you can call capitalism on steroids? There are side effects that are being ignored in a mad scramble to survive, the consequences can come later. In an ideal (read steroidal) world, a corporation big enough would never fail, which essentially means that no matter what you do, no matter how much you screw-up, Uncle Sam or his counterparts will save you. In short, it's a license to screw-up as much as you want.
I feel capitalists through the ages have not only become more perverted but also have become equally good at hiding their perversion when it suits their end. On one hand, capitalism argues for no government intervention in the markets, in Greenspan-speak laissez faire capitalism. On the other hand, the same government becomes an object of worship when the free ways of free markets don't seem to work. The hypocratic stance is compounded by the fact that governments are criticised for not taking an interest in saving the companies from failing and when it demands for more regulation in return to save the markets from further upheavels, the capitalists cry foul for too much government interference in business.
Agreed that we vote a government into power in liberal democracies to make sure that they serve our common interests, that the interests of all sections are taken into account and appropriate provisions be made in government policies to take care of demands, but, there is a simply a limit to the amount of concessions that can be extracted from policymakers in the name of free markets or bailouts. The inherent flaw in the entire capitalistic mindset is the extereme subservience it demands out of government. The government is supposed to relax the rules when we want them to be relaxed to suit our needs and then we expect the government to pull us out of doom by using its monetary muscle when we blow up and then the government is supposed to stand back in a corner and watch us go about our business in the laissez-faire way. I think this is blatantly unfair. It simply shows how easy it is for a bunch of rich capitalists to hold the economy to ransom and then do what they please expecting no intereference from the government whose job is to not just serve the capitalists but also the common man.
I find myself grumbling: "Down with capitalist pigs!"
