Question No. 8 How do we fix capitalism?
Capitalism — we can’t (or don’t) change that, but what can we do to make it better?? When no one is likely to give away privileges that would make any appreciable change, and it all seems to be teetering on some very precarious balancing of government regulation and privatized motivations that cause hoarding, making as much money as possible, disregarding ethics as long as possible… what is the answer? Not more regulation — look at Musk — he’ll just relocate, leave. How can we be fundamentally living on such shaky ground? How does someone who has made 3 wrong turns come back.
—Anyone But “The Man”
PERSPECTIVE #1: ROSE
Dear Anyone But “The Man,
Ever since Trump was elected in the U.S., I have become reliant on the writing of Rebecca Solnit, specifically her book, Hope in the Dark. It is a short text, replete with concrete evidence about all of the very real progress that activists have garnered throughout time. Whenever I start to become bewildered by the ocean of problems we face as a species, by all that seems futile, I go back to this book for a reminder of all that has changed, and of all that can change if we avoid the lure (and escape) of cynicism.
Consider the monumental legislation around Medicare or Social Security or even of the recent COVID relief package. Sometimes the conditions coalesce just right for change, and big and lasting effects reverberate, sometimes for decades. Yes, we cannot “fix it” or regulate our way to some perfect balance. That is asking too much. Think about all that is involved in making our systems functional. Millions of people doing different, varied jobs across different layers of what we call “the market.” Each person—daily—faces a hundred different decisions about how to be, how to do their job, what choices to make, all based on untold (and contradictory) motivations, circumstances, goals, beliefs. The beauty of capitalism is that so much of this system can be unorganized and still function. I am indoctrinated enough to believe this is the system that is probably the best, even if this system is also broken.
So what to do? Find ways to sustain a living, and to be a consumer, with your ethics intact. I recently read a book by a therapist named Beth Pickens who put it perfectly: “Capitalism isn't something to figure out; it is something to navigate and live within, while chipping away at its harmful effects and structures and finding strategies for usurping its rules.”
There are so many aspects of life where one’s ability to make change is like catching snow on your tongue during a blizzard. This is one. There will be things you catch—very real, very meaningful decisions you can make about how to do your part—even while a mountain of snow accumulates around you, representing all that you could not do or change. The older I get, the more at peace I am (or maybe that I feel I have to be) with the idea that the world and even our own individual lives are full of paradoxes, and it almost feels child-like to expect anything more black and white.
So yes, if we in the U.S. ever catch lightning in a bottle and institute a transformational wealth tax or if we finally start providing universal health care, we may cause Elon Musk to flee (good riddance!), but there will also be lives changed for the better. Every progressive victory across time has been incomplete, even while it had life-changing effects.
Again, I go back to Rebecca Solnit,
“Those who dismiss these moments because of their imperfections, limitations, or incompleteness need to look harder at what joy and hope shine out of them and what real changes have emerged because of them, even if not always in the most obvious or recognizable ways.
And everything is flawed, if you want to look at it that way. The analogy that has helped me most is this: in Hurricane Katrina, hundreds of boat-owners rescued people—single moms, toddlers, grandfathers—stranded in attics, on roofs, in flooded housing projects, hospitals, and school buildings. None of them said, I can’t rescue everyone, therefore it’s futile; therefore my efforts are flawed and worthless, though that’s often what people say about more abstract issues in which, nevertheless, lives, places, cultures, species, rights are at stake.”
We cannot save everyone. We cannot fix everything. We cannot even be wholly consistent in the daily choices we make in our own lives. But we must not let that be an excuse for complacency.
Keep fighting,
Your friend,
Rose
Rose is a gray haired and wise future version of one of the many middle-aged Sarahs in Flyover Country.
PERSPECTIVE #2: DELTA
Dear Anyone But “The Man,
There is a lot to say here (the first thing being that I’m not an economist or an historian) but in my understanding, capitalism is intended to support wealth-building, and the system is successful because it is built atop cheap labor and the long history and repercussions of slavery. Wealth-building is most readily available to those who have or are able to assemble or access some initial wealth. Think about renting versus owning one’s living quarters, and how the ability to purchase a residence is based on a capacity to assemble a chunk of money for a down payment. Once a person has clambered or coasted over that hurdle, their monthly payment becomes an investment in their own wealth in the form of equity. If a person is not able to assemble enough money in a chunk to cover a down payment, they are going to be a renter forever, always putting those dollars into someone else’s pocket. To be wealthy is to be in the position of having enough money — money that is not promised to some immediate debt or need — that you can save it and eventually invest it in something that will multiply its value.
We (speaking of people in the US in particular) have been encouraged to get used to cheap things: cheap clothes, cheap objects, cheap food. Cheap labor makes our cheap things and cheap experiences possible. If people are used to paying cheaply for products and services, they are also tangentially used to subsidizing the existence of low-wage work, and are implicated in its persistence.
Those who have crossed the threshold where their income surpasses their cumulative need and debt (in part by taking advantage of the ability to purchase necessities cheaply) are able to set money aside, building savings that pave the way toward greater wealth. A few people are able to perpetuate and build on top of all this cheapness to get very wealthy.
Perhaps those who have been lucky enough to build wealth and to have disposable income can start getting used to paying more money for the things they want, can perhaps imagine wanting fewer things, and can expect that people will eventually be paid more to work. I’m not sure precisely what moves executed in tandem and over time will most effectively trigger more sweeping changes in our economic systems, but I imagine that it is time for us all to be ready to pay more for things where prices have been artificially low because people have been valued so poorly. (Cue the familiar scenario in which low-income people find their that their limited dollars achieve ever less and lower quality for them, while those with higher incomes are able to more sturdily weather change.)
It may be a drop in the bucket, but where possible, let’s start paying more attention to the businesses we frequent, investigating how much they pay their workers, and making our purchasing decisions based on what we learn. It’s one part of the whole system and it’s not going to solve things straight away, but in the land where “the customer is always right” we can try to use that leverage to make some serious decisions about how we put our money back into the system.
Warmly,
Delta
Delta is a curious observer and dedicated student of humans and their intriguing ways.
PERSPECTIVE #3: denny
Jean asks Denny a version of the question, boiling it down to whether there is anything to be done about Capitalism in its current form. Denny launches into a narrative. Jean attempts to convey Denny’s intent in a rough English translation of this narrative, originally voiced in Korean. Note: Part of this narrative was lost, specifically the part concerning, what can be done? Apologies to “Anyone but the man.”
“Yes, with Capitalism you have homelessness growing in this country. It’s a huge problem. A dictator could do away with the problem by shipping all the homeless elsewhere. It’s because you have democracy + Capitalism that things take so long to get resolved. And then Communism has its own demerits.”
“The world has 7-8 billion people who all think differently. Even within a marriage you have two people who think differently. Take one husband and one wife, for example, who are very different, different in perspective like Left from Right. The wife is not good at being organized. She lets cups and dishes pile up in the sink before she washes them, while the husband washes each dish right after he uses it, even if it’s just a glass of water. They are different in this way. So what is to be done? This can be done: from the first day, the two can admit that they are different. And one of them can bend to meet the other, for example the husband can do the dishes the wife leaves.”
Jean: Appa, what does this have to do with Capitalism?
“I’m saying that among 7 billion people there are that many different minds. Which is why when it comes to things like Capitalism and Communism, idealistic resolution… is very hard. If between two people such differences arise, then how many differences do you think arise among 7 billion people? If it’s that difficult to solve differences between two people, how does one resolve differences like Capitalism and Communism and their various permutations… with 7 billion people?”
“When we look at China and Russia, we see a lot of things that we don’t like. And then when they look at us from their perspective, they also see things they don't like, like the gap between rich and poor.”
Jean: But China also has the rich, the uber rich.
Yes, but the Communist party there controls everything. So ultimately even that wealth is being controlled. The people aren’t… resisting. The country continues to develop. From where we’re sitting, we think the people must resist and rebel and overthrow the government eventually. But the funny thing is... even North Korea has lasted more than 60 years, and is still going!
In human society… these are the things that occur.
In America, too, there is Capitalism. And then someone like Trump emerges and tries to change things.
Jean: But China is Capitalist.
Even if it’s Capitalism, it’s different. American Capitalism is based on free market competition. China is controllable Capitalism. Even Ma Yun -- the president of Ali Baba -- he got a little subversive, and the government put him away. He got put away because as soon as you say anything critical of China, they put you away. Government controlled Capitalism. It’s an entirely different kind of Capitalism.
There’s American style Capitalism, and then there’s the kind in Norway and Sweden that’s different, somewhat mixed with Socialism. Everyone thinks differently, so…
Jean: So in your opinion, which type of Capitalism -- which one do you think is better?
America, obviously. It’s because I think America is better that I came here, of course.
Jean: Why is it better?
Because… well, everyone thinks differently, but when I think about it, it’s because there is more freedom. Thats why I think it’s better. For me, I came to America because of freedom.
Jean: There isn’t freedom in Korea?
There is, but not as much as America.
Jean: When you say freedom, what do you mean?
In America, the Democratic party touts 궐리, which is the opposite of duty/obligation. To give is duty. To take is 궐리, civil rights and liberties. By law, each person has their rights.
But in Korea, back during the time I lived there, if I protested in the name of civil rights and liberties, the government would not have it. Because there was President Park at the time, which was a Dictatorship. Even walking down the street with long hair, government soldiers could come up to you and cut your hair right there on the street, because long hair on men was outlawed at the time. There were rules even about women wearing miniskirts.
Note: Jean’s father lived in South Korea from the 1940s through part of the 1970s. In post-war South Korea, President Park was a dictator that seized power in the May 16 military coup d'état, and he ruled the country from 1963 until his assassination in 1979.
Denny, Sunnie, or Jean — Denny and Sunnie are retired Korean American boomers who are also ex- husband and wife. Jean is their daughter.