Righteous Capitalism

by Ian Spong

  Rather than allow military might to be used to help business profits abroad, General Butler would “make certain that our military forces are truly forces for defense only.”[9] In his 1933 speech Major General Smedley Butler described his military career in not so glowing terms. “I spent most of my time being a high class muscle-man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.”[10]

  Unrighteous Capitalism and Coercion

  The desperate need for money just to survive coerces the weak into doing things that they would not normally want to do. “Markets can often be harsh in compelling people to make unpalatable economic choices any reasonable person would not take under normal conditions”[11] like less pay, illegal immigration, foregoing unaffordable health insurance, cutting food or heat, child labor, prostitution, or moving to cheaper housing.

  In wealthy western democracies we believe in the theory of a free market, but in practice do not necessarily experience it for two reasons. 1) A truly free market without regulations would be a Wild West experience with no protections, and 2) too many laws exist to protect the big players from true free-market competition from small businesses. Large corporations often lobby for laws which are pro-business, but not truly pro-market.

  A truly free market without any standards of righteousness would be driven primarily by money and “questions of equity and fairness will go unattended and unaddressed”[12] by the powerful. Even with the legal controls that we have in our modern democracies, those who are the least equipped to survive the economic jungle such as the poor suffer the most. Why? There are always ways around the law for those who wish to walk over the bodies of others for profit. Even big businesses which may want to be righteous end up protecting themselves and thereby inadvertently hurting others.

  Choices in life are not always as simplistic as choosing between good and evil. Sometimes we must choose between two good alternatives and sometimes the only choices we have are all bad. Economic circumstances force people into hard choices and impossible situations where there may be no good alternative and they can only choose the lesser of two evils.

  An example of this is in the story of spies from ancient Israel hiding in the house of Rahab. When officials from the king went looking for them, she had a choice between two evils: lie about where they were or allow them to be arrested and possibly killed. She chose the lesser of two evils and was commended for her faith.[13]

  Not all of life’s choices are for our benefit. Sometimes we are forced to make a choice between survival and a work situation where our lives are at risk, such as coal miners have faced in the past. The boss may have chosen the dark side of capitalism. Employment is offered by those who are tempted to take high risk opportunities in an insatiable greed for more riches. This creates an immoral winner-take-all ethic where little care is taken for safety and lives that are put at risk or destroyed in the process.

  The strong are to bear the burdens of the weak,[14] but that rule is ignored in unrighteous capitalism. “Those who have less of an economic nest egg to begin with and are in need of a more secure safety net are precisely the ones who have to bear the brunt of necessary cost-cutting measures, in contrast to top executives whose compensation packages and ‘golden parachutes’ are secure.”[15]

  A completely free-market could only work in a society filled with righteous people who have a moral compass. In a corrupt society we need a regulated market. Laws are (at least they’re supposed to be) made to curb the corrupt and are not supposed to be necessary for the righteous. For a corrupt world, “Free market exchange, after all, is concerned merely with creating the highest possible total gains, and not with how such created value is distributed among the transactors, or even whether they are mutually advantageous to all.”[16] Who cares if everyone gets a fair deal as long as we make a profit! Right?

  When a nation cares little for the poor, those without financial security and without health care, it has failed to live up to the most basic of responsibilities of a civil society. Such “chronic economic distress that is left unattended is an indictment”.[17] In this regard, America needs to repent of a grievous sin, yet we excuse our greed and lack of charity by calling such safety nets socialism, which is illogical use of a buzz word.

  As we drive our “socialized” roads guided by “socialized” GPS satellites from our “socialized” space program we refuse to help our neighbor as a society because that would be “socialized” medicine or “socialized” welfare? We gladly pay twice as much for corporate “socialized” medicine because we swallow the line that private enterprise is always more efficient than government programs, even though it costs Americans twice as much for health care than any other country on earth and we still don’t have everyone covered.

  Let’s face ourselves honestly: as a nation, we don’t really give a damn about the poor. Even when we do try to help, our best efforts often fail. Among the many messages of the Christmas season surely none can create a more joyful experience than to share. Many like to donate extra clothing.[18] The Volunteer Guide reports that in America 3.5 million homeless people need clothing, more than a third of them are children. Donating clothing helps the environment by extending their life. Many charities actually do not follow the spirit of our intentions. Rather than give clothing away, according to ABC News many actually resell about 10% of clothes in thrift stores and 90% to clothing manufacturers for recycling. For the righteous capitalist who wants to truly help the poor such practices are great disappointments.[19]

  Why is it that after unrighteous capitalists have plundered the poor at home and abroad, destroying jobs and the environment, paying those with jobs lousy wages, with little or no health care, allowing them take the brunt of economic problems, and when they complain, these super-rich dare to call it class warfare? Who has been making war on whom? While the poor and middle class have been experiencing a recession, the super-wealthy around the world have been experiencing an economic boom taking more and more for themselves and leaving the rest of us with less and less.

  Unrighteous Capitalism and Legal and Illegal Corruption

  Why does the USA have low levels of illegal corruption but is in the middle of the global pack in “legal corruption” like campaign contributions and lobbying?[20] Is a huge key to US corporate corruption that fact that the CEO is often the board chair and can thus set his own salary almost wherever he wants?[21] Is “cognitive capture” [blinding the thinking] of government by industry’s propaganda the result of a great conspiracy, or the natural result of the mistaken belief that an industry’s self-interest will also serve the country’s interest?[22]

  Did Venice create a golden age with free-market capitalism only to end it with elitism and a monopoly by the super-rich? Was this the result of a move towards selfish capitalism that caused Venice to quickly change from the wealthiest city in Europe to a backwater? Is the metaphor of Venice the mistake of its elite class “to conflate its own self-interest with the interests of society as a whole”?

  Is it true that elites “don’t sabotage the system that created them on purpose”? Was it the natural result of greed that transformed Venice “from a trading power to a museum”?[23] Is America moving in that same direction? If we are not careful, would same result happen here because of our grossly unequal gap between the rich and the poor?

  Unrighteous Capitalism: Corporate Socialism or State Capitalism

  Some of the most common and most legitimate criticisms of communism were the inefficiency of centralized planning and government theft of private property, but as corporations become larger is that what we have in business, corporate communism? Whether or not it is a state run enterprise or a private one, is it not true that big becomes inefficient? So that leads to some natural questions. Is socialism just state capitalism? Is excessive corporate influence in government just corporate socialism?

  When a corporation is small it can only prosper when there is a fair marke
t with a level playing field. When small businesses battle large monopolies (state or private) which control the market place the battle is often almost impossible. Yet, big business monopolies were more than likely one time small businesses that needed a break.

  The problem is that as businesses become larger, they become more protective. Big corporations lobby (let’s be honest and say bribe) government for protection. It is often done so under the guise of being pro-business. Is there a difference between being pro-market and pro-business? Is the whole market truly served by favoring large businesses that are “too big to fail”? Does government then serve the interests of the few and hurt the interests of the many?

  An example of this is Greece in 2012. While much of the problem may be caused by overly generous social spending and lifetime employment guarantees, the corruption of the country’s oligarchs cannot be overlooked. “The result, analysts say, is a lack of competition that undermines the economy by allowing the magnates to run cartels and enrich themselves through crony capitalism.”[24]

  These crony capitalists have created a union-style closed shop at the top, protecting their own interests and hindering fair access to the market. Such lack of competition undermines any economy. Could such unrighteous, crony capitalism be a problem in other countries as well?

  In 2012 some say that: “Wall Street is the mother church of capitalism. But its flagship firms are run like Yugoslav workers’ collectives”?[25] An East German once told me that Communism was just a perverted form of capitalism, where the party bosses made capital of the rest. Could it be that 20th century Communism was similar to 21st century capitalism? The communist oligarchy was the communist party, with the provincial head of a party organization earning 25 times more than average, much like a CEO in the west? [26] Could it be then that 21st century global capitalism is not that much different?

  Is China an example of state capitalism? Is the system in many ways similar to western crony capitalism where being close to the state is “how the system really works”? Is it as the book Red Capitalism claims that, “China is a family-run business”?[27] If so, is it also true that “China’s plutocrats don’t fight the state because they are the state”?[28]

  When it comes to the super rich, 42% live in America, followed by China, Germany, Switzerland and Japan?[29] How much do the super-rich in America, Germany, Switzerland and Japan influence the affairs of state for their own benefit as opposed to the benefit of the whole market?

  Is the example in socialist China just another form of what happens in the west where big businesses lobby selfishly against some necessary actions which may hurt their businesses a little but in reality could help the broader economy greatly? Is being pro-business always the same as being pro-market? Do big businesses often lobby against being pro-market as they become self-protective? Is it true that real capitalism lacks a strong lobby because most lobbying in America is for protection of big businesses and to restrict competition from smaller players? Is the excessive influence of big business in our legislatures then actually the opposite of true free market capitalism?[30] Is it a form of corporate socialism? I think so.

  When large corporations receive government subsidies and tax breaks not available to the rest of us do we have corporate socialism? When large corporations are run like socialist states within a state for the benefit of the executive apparatchik, do we have corporate socialism? When health care is provided by the big corporation at twice the price that a government system would cost, do we have corporate socialism? I think so.

  America has been called the land of “boring work environments, go-nowhere jobs”.[31] When corporations provide health care and states engage in the marketplace, what do we have? When does capitalism begin and socialism end? The words are so misused in public conversation that we fail to understand which is which. Does the conversation disguise the fact that corrupt, unrighteous capitalism can be engaged in by private as well as government entities? Is the real question not who is the capitalist, but whether or not that person or entity is engaging in righteous capitalism that benefits society as a whole or unrighteous capitalism that benefits just an elite few?

  What is the real difference between the greedy American CEO and the Chinese Communist party plutocrat? Have not both used any federal influence they can muster for self-benefit rather than for the benefit of society as a whole? Have not both taken the large share of the pie for selfish gain at the expense of ordinary workers? Is there any difference other than how they play the game in their cultural context? Has not each been playing the same game of unrighteous capitalism driven by greed?

  Unrighteous Capitalism and Greed

  Could we say that a challenge to every economy is how to have capitalism create wealth for all without capitalists creating wealth for just the few?[32] Could it be that our central economic ill is what some call rent-seeking, unproductive wealthy people living off of investments that add no value to civilization compared with those capitalists who are genuinely providing innovative improvements to society?[33] Could a once innovative company which provided great benefits to all slowly evolve into a rent-seeking monster that later prevents a market from being truly free?

  Greed and Capitalism

  Business too often becomes war instead of mutual cooperation for mutual benefit of all parties involved, customers, employees and society at large. War only destroys. It does not build. When we are never satisfied we fight and when corporations fight both sides lose.

  We take people to court and the only ones who win in court are the lawyers. We take on too much debt and the only winners there are the banks. We become proud and everyone loses. We become vengeful and destroy others. In short, we forget the ideals of our youth and slowly slide into a game of corporate warfare that benefits only winners and hurts losers.

  Greed is bad for capitalism because the resulting fights between businesses, inside corporations and even among family members only destroy and do not build wealth and peace for all.[34]

  Greed and Pride

  The evil side of capitalism includes people who seem to believe that they are righteous in their own eyes. Yet here they are described as being filled with pride while they hunt the poor like game to be killed, even boasting of their heart’s desires and praising others who are just as greedy.[35]

  In Augustine’s commentary on Psalm 10, he described God’s great anger with such greedy capitalists who engage in “fraud and wickedness” placing them in the same class as Antichrist.[36]

  Greed and Plunder

  Evil capitalists do not necessarily engage in murder directly, but the result of their actions is the same. While they plunder the lives and fortunes of others they are actually destroying their own souls. Their end effect of their own greed robs them of life.[37]

  What profit is it if a man gains the whole world but loses his life, his soul?

  Greed and Loneliness

  “A selfish man cares for nobody; there is none to take care of but himself, yet he will scarcely allow necessary rest to himself, and the people he employs.”[38] He or she is never satisfied with enough. In pursuit of the world, they tread on friends and family until they are alone.

  Even the so-called friends that greedy people accumulate, they are never sure of, whether or not they are true friends or merely fair weather friends only interested in their money. Woe to the rich man who loses everything, because even these bought friends will vanish. Greed causes a lonely and empty life.[39] If a person has nothing financially, but a few friends, then that person is very rich indeed, because money can’t buy true friends.

  Greed and Family Destruction

  A greedy man troubles his own household, “he is a torment to himself and his family by his avariciousness and penury, and a curse to those with whom he deals.”[40] Favoritism and greed over inheritance drives family members apart.

  Greed in business creates workaholics who neglect their families. Divorce and separation from family members is the price paid. Bu
t, those who hate this perverted kind of capitalism with its bribes and neglect of family will live.[41]

  Greed and Character

  Greed makes people weak in character. They get rich via unethical means, taking advantage of fragile people by either paying low wages or providing pitiful health care and other benefits.

  Money causes people to fall prey to the trap of bribery and ill-gotten gains. The deception of dishonest riches makes people think they will be happy, but in reality it makes them miserable and destroys their lives.[42]

  Greed and Leadership

  A leader who uses judgment rather than destructive greed and bribery brings stability.[43] Greedy corporate and government leaders can never get enough. “They regard neither God's glory, nor the peoples good, but only the satisfaction of their own base desires.”[44]

  Avaricious people are impudent, greedy dogs and ignorant shepherds of people, unaware of the destruction they bring on themselves and those they manage.[45]

  Greedy Eyes, Greedy Hearts

  What we look for and what our hearts desire have consequences. When our eyes and hearts are fixed on covetousness, then manslaughter and oppression and extortion are not far behind. The lust for dishonest gain leads to the shedding of innocent blood either directly or indirectly.

  Greedy individuals are tempted to oppress weaker employees, clients or competitors by not paying a decent wage, overcharging for services and trying to shut down other market players. Avaricious people are tempted to extort money or business deals from others.[46]