Capitalism: A Denial Story

I recently stumbled across the following statement on youtube:

“The "Economic Crisis" has nothing to do with capitalism (in the traditional, free market sense of the term), and everything to do with corporatism and central planning. The Fed (and the state's recognition of this central bank) is responsible, not free markets (which we don't have).”

Apparently this was a response to the trailer for Michael Moore’s most recent movie called, Capitalism: A Love Story. Now there is much in this statement that I agree with: First, I agree that the global ‘economic crisis’ was accomplished in large part because of a broken and manipulated banking system. There were a whole group of wealthy elite families who worked with major corporations to control and influence the banks in order to siphon off derivative capital and basically fraud the systems out of billions of dollars. This is a well known and documented occurrence.

Secondly, ‘corporatism’ is most certainly at the core of the dilemma. As witnessed in the recent case where U.S Supreme Court granting further citizenship and personhood rights to corporations, thereby opening the door to billions of dollars being spent by special corporate interests to influence and thereby dominate the political landscape of the United States. This sadistic symbiosis of corporate and government interests has allowed the most wealthy people on the planet continue to consolidate, expand and extended their power and influence all over the world.

And I do agree that the Federal Bank and its monetary policies played a major role in the "crisis", however, again, this is because it too is controlled through and through by corporate fascist interests.

Yet, notice the first 9 words of that statement! Here they are: “The "Economic Crisis" has nothing to do with capitalism…” WTF?

Let me try and simplify this for everyone: corporate dominance, elite influence and the banking systems they own ARE integral parts of CAPITALISM. Capitalism in contemporary global society is nothing more that a set of values, ideas, practices, policies, technology and social structures engineered to maximize and consolidate profit - managed and defended by massive corporations and all those wealthy elites who control them. Capitalism is the blind pursuit of profit utilizing any means, technology or advantage possible within a systematically unfair, unequal, controlled and dominated field of interaction. Capitalism has only ever operated through influence, power and the appropriation of ‘natural resources’.

And the person who wrote the comments quoted above was right: we do not have free market capitalism. You wanna know why? BECAUSE it is a MYTH. ‘Free markets’ do NOT exist. Nor have they ever existed. Capitalism as it has historically evolved is not the kind of system the kids were told about in primary schools, and it is certainly not about devising institutions that stay in line with the fantasies of Adam Smith. Since the birth of capitalism during the renaissance the wealthy have continued to dominate the fields of "competition", and controlled markets and access to markets throughout the world. [You might want to check out Fernand Braudel’s scholarship for the details] Markets, like everything else in the social world, are NOT, nor will they ever be, totally FREE.

Much like the belief in Anarchy in general, the notion of ‘free markets’ is a fantasy created by people naïve enough to think that there can ever be a “free” association of individuals operating outside the control of coercive powers. Put another way, believing in the possibility of "free markets" is like believing in a purple dragon - it looks good on paper, and makes for a good story but has never existed. Where there is opportunity (especially for profit) there will always be dominant people, groups and “special interests” (fascists) ready to rush in and shape the flow of materials and value for their benefit.

So to assert that the ‘economic crisis’ has nothing to do with capitalism is ridiculous. The whole banking system is a part of the larger machinations of capitalism – and it was the capitalist élites who drove these banks and corporations to do what they did.

In fact, the main goal of the banking-corporate-capitalist-government-elite alliance can only ever be achieved at the expense of other people and the ecosystems in which they subsist. Capitalism is an ideology and system with a single zero sum goal: profit. And the only way to extract profit is through the exploitation of others and the appropriation of natural resources. And failing to recognize this total alignment of contemporary profit-obsessed capitalism with the controlling interests and influences of the fascist elite would mean that we are either clinically insane, or that we have become so involved in our own self-hating delusions that we continue to operate out of a nihilistic state of denial.