Wrong-headed Ideas

Interesting ideas can often be just as wrong as absurd ones. The idea upon which “Why Socialism Won’t Die” (Sunday, May 21, 2006) is one of them.

The piece cites Peruvian economist, Hernando de Soto, as having said, “the failure of the various socialist experiments of the 20^th century has left mankind with only one rational choice about which economic system to go with—namely, capitalism.” A strange statement from a Latin American! The predominant economic system in Latin America over the centuries, with the exception of some aberrations, has been the capitalist one. Yet, it has failed to promote the welfare of Latin Americans just as markedly as socialism failed to promote the welfare of the peoples of Eastern Europe. So along comes Lee Harris, the author of “Civilization and Its Enemies,” who expropriates Georges Sorel’s notion that just as the Christian’s life is transformed by the myth that Christ will return and usher in a perfectly just end of time, the socialist adheres to the myth that “one day socialism will triumph , and justice for all will prevail.” Mr. Harris then contrasts this to the absence of such a motivating myth for capitalism.

Interesting, to be sure, but he fails to ask the deeper question, “Why is no such myth associated with capitalism?” The answer is obvious and provides a completely different explanation for why socialism won’t die.

Not a single one of the great moral systems that have been expounded can be used to justify capitalism, because it is immoral at its core; it functions on lies and fraud and exploitation.

It was no accident that “Caveat emptor!” became the buyer’s maxim as early as the year 1523. That sellers were cheats was common knowledge even then. And I need not trouble anyone with an exposition of great moral theories. Just the Bible will do.

“Six days thou shall work, but on the seventh day thou shall rest. . . .” Sellers never rest, certainly never on Sunday.

“Thou shalt not steal.” Yet fraud is abundant.

“Thou shalt not bear false witness. . . .”  Yet marketing is a web of lies, which we justify by calling them “puffery.” Yet if a person puffs up his resumé, it is considered a heinous offense justifying dismissal, while businesses can puff up their product claims and be rewarded for it.

“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house . . . nor anything else that is thy neighbor’s.”  But isn’t everyone out to get the other guy’s money?

Crime, poverty, exploitation, vice, and every other sort of evil live long and well in capitalist economies. Look at what happened in the former Soviet Union. Russian criminals have now extended their reach world-wide. Look at what passes on the internet. Look at the scandals—Abramoff, Enron, MCI, and others. Remember William Henry Vanderbuilt’s, “The public be damned!” And compare American business practices with the text of Leviticus 19 11-17.

It is, of course, very strange, that the so called protectors of American morality manage to compartmentalize all of this Judeo-Christian scripture which they claim to believe in absolutely when it comes to judging our free wheeling capitalist economy.

So the idea of socialism will not die until mankind’s yearning for honesty, truth, and justice prevail, and no economic system that thrives on lies, fraud, and exploitation will ever develop a justifying myth that mankind will accept. In truth, rationally, capitalism is a hopeless case. Greed alone is what motivates its acceptance.

Readers of Georges Sorel know that his writings were tinged with too much religious belief, and it seems that the ideas of Mr. Harris are tinged with too much economic propaganda. Capitalism may produce a proliferation of products and choices, but it does it at an enormous human cost. For the sake of greed, capitalism grinds up people as Americans are again soon to find out.

Of course, capitalism can be reformed! But when reformed, it won’t work nearly as well.