Capitalism

If you follow the theory of evolution, genetics is the system by which an environment modifies a species. Some people think it's the other way around for some reason, but the truth is that genetics simply provides options for survival in an unpredictable future, an unpredictable environment, an unpredictable society. And our environment, natural or otherwise, culls who cannot survive.

And we've modified our environment. We've added other issues that cull those that cannot survive. We've created economies, and economies aren't good or evil. They just add some spin to the whole 'who gets to survive' issue. Those that are have more economic power have more healthy food available, have better shelter, and yes - better opportunities. It doesn't mean that these guarantee survival but they most certainly help with increasing the potential of survival. So, in our own way, we cull those that can't achieve a certain level of socioeconomic standing by assuring that they (or, we) don't get as good food, as good exercise, as good so on and so forth.

Some people feel bad about that and donate to make their own guilt go away. Famous people like that are sometimes called philanthropists. Maybe they grow enough to see some potential in the downtrodden, but since economic wealth flows up more than down the downtrodden are necessary for accumulating such vast amounts of wealth. The theory may be different but the practice is close to that.

In demonstrating Trinidad and Tobago politics with Ernie and Bert, I came across another YouTube Video that explains much of how the global economy has worked during my lifetime:

When I read this (hat tip to Michael Maranda), I immediately thought of the video of Sarah Silverman's ambitious plan for feeding the world:

Truth be told, if all religious institutions sold their most prized property there would probably be no hunger - for a while. Even so, there is some irony in that religions themselves typically have a lot of capital hidden away somewhere in the crockery. But so do a lot of other people.

Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story is something I still haven't seen - it's not even released on DVD as I write this - but the concept of replacing capitalism with democracy seems a bit peculiar to me. Even so, it has some allure because we all know that something is wrong.

I don't know exactly why, but political and economic camps remain just that - with little or no common ground. There is democracy, and there is communism. There is capitalism, and there is socialism. And, for reasons that defy explanation, they are often viewed as polar opposites.

Consider a democracy like the United States, which also is capitalist. The religion that is dominant in the United States is Christianity, which has the Sermon on the Mount as one of the teachings (in at least some versions of Christianity). So, 'the meek shall inherit the Earth'. Is that statement socialist or democratic? Both. And neither. Democracy gives power to the mob. So does socialism. Where it varies is in the 'how'. Capitalism, as we see it working, takes money away from the mob and gives it to the few. Socialism takes money away from the mob and takes care of the mob.

'All men are created equal'. Socialism? Maybe. Egalitarianism? Yes. Democracy? According to many nations, yes. Communism? Yes.

And yet, each political and economic ideology seems to have trouble coming to grips with all of this. Why? Perhaps because people are too busy defending their camps and attacking the other camps to actually try to find the common ground and move forward.

Random pointer: mobile vulgus is the origin of 'mob'; the movable common people.

The roots of economic and political ideologies all tie to a common factor - people. And each method has it's strengths and weaknesses in either theory or, more usually, practice.

Maybe the best thing to do would be to toss the labels to the wind and actually focus on what is most important to people- after all, that's what started this mess. A return to sanity would be refreshing; all too often I hear that one ism or acy is bad and another ism and acy is good.