Capitalism is an Anti-Social Disease

[unhappycamper]

Capitalism is an Anti-Social Disease
by Dave Lindorff | July 9, 2010 - 1:37pm

Looking at the catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, where the impact of the greed of corporate executives at British Petroleum, TransOcean and Halliburton, not to mention the greed of paid-off regulators in the Minerals Management Service and the members of the House and Senate who took dirty money to water down drilling regulations is clearly visible, I was reminded of a prominent business leader in New York, recently deceased.

Told by his sister of a young woman she knew who had posted a sign on her wall saying, "Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have," this executive, who had held a top position in the media, sniffed, "Ugh! That's terrible. If people thought like that, no one would strive to do anything."

Of course, hundreds of thousands of people--teachers, nurses, park rangers, musicians, writers, artists, small farmers and social workers--spend their lives working at low wages trying to make others happy, or to produce things that bring joy to others, content that their lives have meaning. Yet this same individual, who was worth hundreds of millions of dollars, spent his life amassing ever more wealth, which is what the rich and powerful do. He worked hard raking it in, riding roughshod over employees, competitors, and workers, all with the goal of obtaining more wealth, though he had no hope of ever spending what he had. When he died, he left behind a family squabbling over the spoils.

And how different, really, was he from most wealthy, powerful people? To be sure, some give extravagantly to charity, especially when they die, but their bequests can never compensate for the harm they do in their lifetimes.

Let's face it. Capitalism is a disease--an raging infection that causes its hosts to become sociopaths.

[RKP5637]

1. And being a sociopath to start might well be a prerequisite for a highly successful,

ruthless and exceptionally wealthy capitalist.

[patrice]

2. There's a picture on here somewhere, of a burly demonstrator at the G8, I believe, he had the neck

of a bull and on the back of his neck was a tattoo showing 2 stick figures with guns pointed at each others heads and the caption was "Capitalism". I think that sums it up pretty well, because that is the logical extension of the processes known as Capitalism.

[Selatius]

3. Psychopathy unshackles people from moral anchors that prevent certain behaviors.

Exploitation is only limited by the person's moral fiber. A person with no morals is more likely to find tactics that may be successful but may also be considered immoral by most. As a result, most will not engage in that behavior except people with no morals. Somebody has a competitive advantage, and it's not the person who wants to play fair or lives by a moral code of some kind.

The most ambitious people may actually have no morals.

[maryf]

4. Capitalism is a fatal disease

and should be eradicated before it kills anymore...