Capitalism is an economic idea that advocates very little government regulation or taxes in businesses. It also suggests that people's own self interest will benefit the economy overall. In recent times capitalism, a fundamental idea of American culture, has been challenged. Though there has always been opposition to capitalism since its beginnings, it seems that some of those who so oppose it have found their way into Washington and are passionately working to "fundamentally transform" this country by instituting a different economic structure in its place. Although America is not immune to these plans, they will not succeed without destroying what it is that Americans treasure most, their freedom.
In the early years of America, when there was very little government regulation at all, people were left alone to "pursue happiness" however they saw fit. Early Americans thrived on the idea of creating their own fortunes, and many of them did. Capitalism is what allowed for this to happen. Due to the increasing number of people becoming wealthy, the United States' economy grew extremely fast making it the wealthiest country on Earth. As a result of the economic success due to capitalism, and free trade, many impoverished countries that do business with the United States have also been able to benefit. The opposite is true as well, according to P.T. Bauer, an economic expert, "The level of material achievement usually diminishes as one moves away from the foci of western impact" (Dinesh D'Souza).
Many of the founders were deeply influenced by Adam Smith's writings and believed in what he said. They tried to incorporate Smith's ideas into the foundation of our country because his ideas encouraged freedom and separation from the government. In their eyes, "government, in its best state, is a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one" (Thomas Paine's Common Sense). Anything that would limit the size and influence of the government, the founders embraced. Those kind of ideas have been prominent in America ever since then. In order for capitalism to work, it requires that people go after their own interests, but that they do so honestly.
Due to America's Judeo-Christian foundation, morals, in general, were highly sought after and seen as necessary in order to maintain freedoms. Over time, Americans have drifted from the high moral standards that the founders and early citizens held so dearly. As a result of the decline of morality, government has felt the need to institute more regulations, or in other words, force people to be moral by law. James Madison, in describing human nature, may have said it best in one of his letters to Alexander Hamilton, "But what is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature. If men were angels, there would be no need for government…" (James Madison, Federalist Paper 51). In order to maintain any kind of freedom, it means a people must "self govern". That is what capitalism requires as well. The negative side of capitalism is seen when people begin to be dishonest in their dealings.
As Americans continue to relinquish their freedoms due to lack of morality, they also relinquish their opportunity to succeed or to fail economically. As the structure that attempts to control our immoral behavior continues to grow, a safety net is created. This "safety net" takes shape in the form of laws and political policies that are designed to prevent failure. Of course this sounds appealing, no failure! Who wouldn't want that? But what is the cost? The whole concept is flawed and mocks reality. Failure is essential in order to recognize success. Failure is what motivates people to succeed. Michael Jordan said," I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed". Some people's successes may be significantly less than others, but when people work hard and fail many times and then succeed, they almost always recognize their failures and stepping stones to their success. Capitalism is an economic means whereby this process can take place. Other systems such as communism or socialism try to eliminate failure and, in so doing, stifle success.
Communism is a form of government in which there are two classes. The ruling class and everyone else. The purpose of communism is to look out for the "working class" that is created by capitalism. Communists see the different classes created by capitalism to be unfair. They think that everyone should be on the same plane and no one person should have an advantage over another. Communists think everyone that lives in a society should have the same material things so such "unfairness" doesn't take place. To do this, the government controls all businesses eliminating the opportunity for private ownership. No one is going to be able to make any more than anyone else. All revenues go to the government and they decide exactly who gets what and how much of it they get. Under communist rule, there are no incentives for people to try to better themselves. There are no tangible rewards for the citizens. The incentive to work begins to fade away which is why laws must be made requiring people to work. If this was not the case, there would be no income to the government and the entire system would fail. Communism is a system that inevitably leads to a people held hostage by its own government, a place where dreams die, and where individual success wilts away.
Despite the many negative sides to communism, many people believe that the pros outweigh the cons. Although most Americans see communism as a negative thing, there are many within our borders that openly support communist agendas. One of the most extreme groups is known as The Weather Underground. They were founded in 1969 by the leaders of Students for a Democratic Society. Their core beliefs and plans to institute a communist form of government are found in their founding document You don’t need a Weatherman to Know Which Way the Wind Blows. They believe that America, and its strong belief in capitalism, is the biggest obstacle in their quest to institute world communism: "the main struggle going on in the world today is between U.S. imperialism and the national liberation struggles against it". And their goal is "…the destruction of US imperialism and the achievement of a classless world: world communism". It is scary to think that one of the men who actually helped write this literature, Bill Ayers, has a relationship with our current President. Mr. Ayers assigned Barak Obama to distribute and help raise money for schools with the purpose of "raising political awareness". What kind of political views or "political awareness" would Mr. Ayers want to be spreading? His own of course! He wanted to ensure that more kids be exposed to his radical communist views. Perhaps his own literature can explain why he is targeting youth in the school system:
We must fight particularly hard to organize them around a revolutionary line of full support for black liberation and the international revolution against US imperialism. This is crucial because the privilege of this section of the working class has provided and will provide a strong material basis for national chauvinist and social democratic ideology within the movement , such as anti-internationalist concepts of 'student power' and 'workers control'.…" We should continue to see it as important to build the revolutionary youth movement among the
youth of this strata."
In order to reach their goal of global communism, revolution must take place. In order for a revolution to take place, you must have large groups of people who believe in your cause. Ayers, with the help of Obama, knowingly or not, successfully spread Ayers' views throughout schools in Chicago. Soon after this, Obama tried to hide his connections with Ayers so as not to dampen his chances of becoming president. The Weather Underground and organizations like it openly seek to destroy our country the way it was founded and they are slowly succeeding.
According to Karl Marx, the author of The Communist Manifesto, Socialism is the means whereby a country goes from capitalism to communism. Before talking about how it works, it is important to distinguish the difference between socialism and communism. Communism is a form of government and socialism is an economic system. The two ideas work together. Socialism is the opposite of capitalism in that instead of promoting private ownership and individual success that gives everyone equal opportunity, it seeks for government ownership and guarantees, at best, marginal communal success. Communists are patient. They understand that changing a country either takes a disaster, or it takes time. They know that by slowly implementing socialist policies in the name of compassion, they will gradually be more and more accepted. There are several examples of these types of socialist policies that have already been put in place here in America: Social Security, Welfare, Medicare, Medicaid, and most recently Universal Healthcare. All of these programs have been formed in order to show compassion to those who are less fortunate. Without these programs our countries national debt is around 13 trillion dollars according to the National Public Debt Bureau. With these programs which are considered to be "unfunded liabilities" it is around 62 trillion dollars according to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. It is worth noting that some estimates report the total being well over 100 trillion dollars. No matter how you look at it, these programs, though designed to be compassionate, are destroying the economy and setting the U.S. up for catastrophic failure, which is exactly what the communists want.
Since the country doesn’t have the money to pay off these massive debts it must print more money, which in turn causes inflation. Inflation devalues currency. This means that the savings that people have worked for their whole lives for is now worth less. Since its worth less, their plans for retirement change. It will cost more to pay for houses and cars. Business will necessarily have to increase prices in order to stay afloat, which means less people will be able to buy. All of this creates a dependency on the government and a necessity for government run businesses. Instead of increasing national spending through socialist programs and taxing the citizens to economic death, the government should be fiscally responsible and trust the people to take care of themselves with very few exceptions. Andrew Jackson said,
"We are beginning a new era in the government. The national debt, which has so long been a burden on the Treasury, will be finally discharged in the course of the ensuing year...I cannot too strongly urge the necessity of a rigid economy and an inflexible determination not to enlarge the income beyond the real necessities of Government and not increase the wants of the government by unnecessary and profuse expenditures"
Wouldn’t that be nice to hear our current president say!
Another big obstacle that communists or socialists have to overcome is the public perception. They know that by simply coming out and telling everyone that they want to institute communism here in America they will be rejected. So what do they do? They use a concept called "The Overton Window". The Overton Window is range of ideas that a group of people will readily accept at any given time. Throughout history, The Overton Window shifts as public perception changes. Political strategists on both sides of the spectrum have studied how to make that window shift in their favor. The most obvious strategy would be to simply point out all the negatives associated with proposed policies. Another would be to point out that the policy you're supporting isn't as extreme as someone else's. Even though your current policy may not be extreme, it is sliding the window of acceptance towards the extremity. Communists are more than satisfied with that. The most devious strategy is when policies are put into place due to some form of disaster. The Patriot Act for example. This act was put into place with the idea of keeping us safe from another attack like 9/11. This enabled the government to listen to phone conversations or read private emails for the sake of security. That would not have been accepted previous to 9/11. The United States gave up a freedom in the form of privacy in order to be safe, which at the time was accepted. The act was instituted with a sunset which meant that eventually it was going to go away when the necessity was gone. However under the current administration, the act was made permanent. Now, with the powers given to the government under the Patriot Act, there are proposals to create a branch in the library of congress which would archive every text message, twitter post, facebook post, and email in the entire country for the sake of history. With the window of public acceptance slowly shifting towards a more empowered government, the platform for socialism is being laid.
Despite all the efforts of communists to inch the window of acceptance their way, the power still lies in the American people to stop it from happening and move back towards capitalism. The truth is that, even though it is still widely considered to be a capitalist country, for over 100 years true, or uninhibited, capitalism has not existed in America. Most economists agree that uninhibited capitalism is the best way to create wealth and grow economically. Yes this does mean that classes will immerge and that some will have more success than others, but everyone has the opportunity to succeed. And overall, even the lower class of those who live in a capitalist society are better off than any citizen in under communist rule. Even if their success is small, most Americans stand by the idea of "give me a shot and I can do it" (Stewart and Stewart, 7 Miracles That Saved America). Capitalism is the system that gives them that shot, promotes individual success, and allows for dreams to come true.
