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Edited on Mon May-03-10 06:34 PM by William Z. Foster
We are now hearing the last line of defense for capitalism, as the evidence accumulates and becomes more and more obvious that it is destroying us. People would have us believe that it is a particular type of capitalism that is the problem, and that there is a possibility of some sport of "pure" capitalism that we should imagine or hope for. But when they describe this "pure" capitalism - just, inclusive, sustainable - they are either not describing capitalism at all but rather pre-capitalist reality, or else they are imagining something that is impossible - regulating capitalism until it no longer is capitalism.
The destruction of the environment, the control of all wealth by Wall Street, the corruption of the government, the depressing of wages and elimination of jobs, the perversion of all social relationships to serve the needs and desires of the greedy few, are not merely minor side effects of capitalism, unfortunate by-products that could be regulated away or something, they are rather what capitalism is, they are a description of what capitalism actually is. There isn't anything else to it, except in the imaginations of ill-informed and misled people. This is so obvious now, so pervasive and undeniable, so self-evident, that it is requiring more and more convoluted arguments and lines of reasoning in order to get people to ignore or deny what is right under their nose and in plain view - capitalism is destroying us.
It is not "greedy capitalism" that is the problem - capitalism is a system for rewarding the greedy. It is not "corrupt capitalism" that is the problem - capitalism will always cause corruption. Every corporation has armies of lawyers working night and day figuring out how to game the law, the government and the system, and those who do that best will be the winners. They will always win, because they control the wealth and wealth equals power. It is not "unregulated capitalism" either - regulation will always be smashed and circumvented through sooner or later. It is not "corporate capitalism" that is the problem. Corporations are but one thing exploited by the capitalists, as all things are and always will be.
Might as well try to stop a fish from swimming or a bird from flying. It is a juggernaut destroying the earth. Nothing will tame it or restrict it for long. It smashes through all barriers. Smashing through all barriers is the whole point of capitalism, its very nature and essence, the only thing it can do.
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