The Gnarled Hands of the Market God
“In a true democracy, the rich would not be able to establish rules that disproportionately benefit themselves. To preserve their position of privilege, they frequently fight democracy.” Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway, The Big Myth (to be published in February 2023 by Bloomsbury)
It’s time for the neoliberal, Free Market God to step down and admit defeat. Slip out of the golden robe and slippers, remove the blindfold and set the chalice down. The theory failed. Flopped. Renounce Freidrich von Hayek and Milton Friedman. Admit that Ayn Rand was full of poop.
Adam Smith warned against unregulated capitalism. Smith knew that every mule needs a driver.
The government didn’t lead us to totalitarian serfdom; no, it was the Market God that led to low-waged serfdom for millions. Free-to-choose as they descend into poverty.
Visible hands, wealthy hands, made Americans suspicious of and hostile to their own government, the FBI and the IRS and the Bureau of Land Management and the EPA; it made them paranoid about a Deep State that doesn’t exist. Visible hands made millions of people the world over practically disposable. Made a relatively small number of people obscenely, grotesquely, and immorally wealthy. The visible hand is destroying the ecosystem of our only planet.
The Market was never free. Nor was it ever capable of self-regulation. The private sector isn’t the answer to every problem. Never was. Back in the early days of electricity, the private sector had zero interest in bringing electricity to rural America; the government made that possible, often with the help of private business, but the government was the driving force, the moving party.
Democracy can exist outside a capitalist structure. Capitalism and freedom are not indivisible. An argument can easily be made that Americans are hardly as “free” as they believe themselves to be.
The choice isn’t between capitalism and communism. There’s a whole lot of space between these systems.
The level of income and wealth inequality we see today, globally, isn’t normal and isn’t a result of superior personal attributes, business cunning and acumen, noble risk-taking, heroic disruption, divine intervention, or magic, it’s a human-engineered cancerous growth in a tumor-riddled Frankenstein.
In the words of Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway, authors of The Big Myth, “American market fundamentalists fight for a form of capitalism that is both brutal and ignorant: that brushes aside market failure, anticompetitive practices, and external costs, in part by denying the facts of science, the facts of history, and the necessary role of government in making capitalism work.”
Gordon Gekko was full of shit. He was malign. Sadistic. Cruel. Look what Greed has done. Look at the global distribution of wealth, of what percentage of people own what, and how much. It’s staggering. The global wealthy got richer during the Covid pandemic. How did you and your family make out? Are you wealthier now? Healthier? More secure? Look around your own city, town, or neighborhood. How’s your Main Street doing in the Age of Amazon?
How much are you paying for TV-Internet-Streaming services? How much competition is there? Many options all owned by the same corporation? Look at the media outlets owned by Disney.
Have you flown on a commercial airline recently? How was your experience?
What do you pay for health insurance? What’s your maximum out-of-pocket and highest co-pay?
Why are cars so expensive? Education?
Are you better off than your parents? Grandparents?
Are you working two jobs? Three?
How much debt are you carrying?
Has your rent increased?
Billionaires should be taxed out of existence. Corporations should pay taxes. Corporations that pollute or destroy or degrade the environment should pay even more.
For capitalism to work for the many, not just the fortunate few, it must be regulated.
