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I am not going to go into some kind of critical analysis of whether or not capitalism is a good economic system in this article, so those expecting a rant about the evils of the free market may be sorely disappointed. What I will do is raise the question of whether or not we as an American people truly believe in capitalism. In the midst of the current economic crisis, it seems that the answer is, at the very least, unclear. One of the things that is appealing about the capitalistic approach to economy is the prospect of growth. Within our economy, the only barrier to wealth generation is one’s own choices (at least in theory). Make good investments, and you will prosper. There is a downside to this, of course. If one makes a bad financial decision, then all may be lost. It is a system that allows for big gains and big losses.

The last decade or so has seen a huge amount of growth, creating support for allowing the free market to run on its own. Unfortunately, we are now seeing the downside of allowing the market determine economic outcomes. I am not saying this as a criticism of capitalism, but rather to simply point out that one of the inherent risks of a free market economy is that the market can, and inevitably will, crash at some point. Now that we are not benefiting from this economic system, it seems that people, including many on the right, want to see the government take control of our financial markets. We want to reap the benefits of capitalism, but are not willing to take responsibility when things go sour. This mentality is what I have a problem with. It’s the same mentality of a spoiled child, who wants the benefits of independence from his parents, but not the difficulties that come with it.

We are on the verge of a huge bailout of the financial institutions that helped us get into this mess, which I understand. What is wrong in this is that the very people who have lobbied for less government regulation now want the golden parachute when they messed up. I think that, if we are really going to be capitalistic about it, these individuals should be allowed to be accountable for their actions and feel the same financial pain as the individual who is at the bottom of the financial landscape and has lost everything in this crisis.

Ultimately, I think this bailout will end up passing. I hope there will be some protection for the taxpayers whose dollars are being used to finance this undertaking. There is a huge chance that the ones who will end up suffering the most are those on the fringe of the lower middle class and below, which is unfortunate. Many of these individuals have received little benefit from economic growth, yet stand to be hit hardest by a recession. I’m not an expert on economics, but from what I can see, it seems that the biggest touters of the free market economy quickly become the biggest denouncers of it when things go badly, and that makes me sad. I believe we are a nation of principles, not a nation of convenience, and that in the face of a crisis we should come together to help one another out instead of selling out in order to gather whatever scraps are available.

Philip Gibson

Columnist

philagan@gmail.com