A 'cult,'
according to Merriam-Webster, can be defined as "Great devotion to a person,
idea, object, movement, or work..(and)..a usually small group of people
characterized by such devotion."
Capitalism has
been defined by adherents and detractors: Milton Friedman said, "The problem of
social organization is how to set up an arrangement under which greed will do
the least harm, capitalism is that kind of a system." John Maynard Keynes said,
"Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the
most wickedest of things for the greatest good of
everyone."
Perhaps it's
best to turn to someone who actually practiced the art: "Capitalism is the
legitimate racket of the ruling class." Al Capone said
that.
Capitalism is a
cult. It is devoted to the ideals of privatization over the common good, profit
over social needs, and control by a small group of people who defy the public's
will. The tenets of the cult lead to extremes rather than to compromise.
Examples are not hard to find.
1. Extremes of
Income
By sitting on
their growing investments, the richest five Americans made almost $7 billion
each in one year. That's $3,500,000.00 per hour. The minimum wage for tipped
workers is $2.13 per hour.
Our unregulated
capitalist financial system allows a few well-positioned individuals to divert
billions of dollars from the needs of society. If the 400 richest Americans
lumped together their investment profits from last year, the total would pay
in-state tuition and fees for EVERY college student in the United
States.
2. Extremes of
Wealth
The combined net
worth of the world's 250 richest individuals is more than the total annual
living expenses of almost half the world - three billion
people.
Within our own
borders the disparity is no less shocking. For every one dollar of assets owned
by a single black or Hispanic woman, a member of the Forbes 400 has over forty
million dollars. That's equivalent to a can of soup versus a mansion, a yacht,
and a private jet. Most of the Forbes 400 wealth has accrued from nonproductive
capital gains. It's little wonder that with the exception of Russia, Ukraine,
and Lebanon, the U.S. has the highest degree of wealth inequality in the
world.
3. Extremes of
Debt
Up until the
1970s U.S. households had virtually no debt. Now the total is $13 trillion,
which averages out to $100,000 per American family.
Debt appears to
be the only recourse for 21- to 35-year-olds, who have lost, on average, 68% of
their median net worth since 1984, leaving each of them about
$4,000.
4. Extremes of
Health Care
A butler in
black vest and tie passed the atrium waterfall and entered the $2,400 suite,
where the linens were provided by the high-end bedding designer Frette of Italy
and the bathroom glimmered with polished marble. Inside a senior financial
executive awaited his 'concierge' doctor for private
treatment.
He was waiting
in the penthouse suite of the New York Presbyterian
Hospital.
On the streets
outside were some of the 26,000 Americans who will die this year because they
are without health care. In 2010, 50 million Americans had no health insurance
coverage.
5. Extremes of
Justice
William James
Rummel stole $80 with a credit card, then passed a bad check for $24, then
refused to return $120 for a repair job gone bad. He got life in prison.
Christopher Williams is facing over 80 years in prison for selling medical
marijuana in Montana, a state which allows medical marijuana. Patricia
Spottedcrow got 12 years for a $31 marijuana sale, and has seen her children
only twice in the past two years. Numerous elderly Americans are in prison for
life for non-violent marijuana offenses.
Banking giant
HSBC, whose mission statement urges employees "to act with courageous integrity"
in all they do, was described by a U.S. Senate report as having "exposed the
U.S. financial system to 'a wide array of money laundering, drug trafficking,
and terrorist financing'" in their dealings with Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, which
is considered the deadliest drug gang in the world.
HSBC received a
fine equivalent to four weeks' profits. The bank's CEO said, "we are profoundly
sorry."
In the words of
Bertrand Russell, "Advocates of capitalism are very apt to appeal to the sacred
principles of liberty, which are embodied in one maxim: The fortunate must not
be restrained in the exercise of tyranny over the
unfortunate."
Accurate to the
extreme.
ARA/HJ
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