End of capitalism?
I am writing with reference to Op-Ed: "The end of capitalism?" by Mirza Azizul Islam (March 25).
Pope Pius XI once remarked: "Totalitarian communism and unregulated capitalism are united in their satanic optimism." The "satanic optimism" of totalitarian communism stems from the belief that exploitation of man by man can only be eliminated by public ownership of all means of production. The "satanic optimism" of unregulated capitalism stems from the belief that peace and prosperity can only be achieved through unrestricted self-regulatory market forces.
The collapse of the Soviet communism shows the former is wrong and the collapse of the world's iconic capitalist organizations like Enron, AIG, Merril Lynch and others shows the latter is equally wrong. For years, the financial and corporate elites have championed an unbridled capitalism, and pressed for the removal of crucial regulations needed to protect the public. They have championed the ethos of greed that justified extraordinary compensation and low taxes for those at the highest income brackets. As a result, the "satanic optimism" of unregulated capitalism has come to haunt us and now many major corporations and banking institutions have gone bankrupt.
What we need is a well-regulated market where the government, citizens groups, press and other public institutions will keep a watch on corporate greed unleashed by years of wild unregulated market forces. This means taxes on the rich will be much higher to pay for greater social spending on education, health care, environment and law-enforcement. It will be a different kind of capitalism where social responsibility will replace greed. Profits must be shared and not spent on wasteful personal spending as Bernie Maddoff and Conrad Black have done. It is not surprising that both of these corporate giants are now spending their times in jail for corporate fraud.
It is not the end of capitalism, but the return of an earlier brand of capitalism associated with the welfare state and social justice as still practiced in the Scandinavian countries who had rejected the American version of unregulated capitalism.
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