THE EXISTENTIAL NATURE OF CAPITALISM

with the recent explosion of hipsters near where i go to school, and given the counter-culture nature of socialism, i seldom hear anyone saying nice things about capitalism. fair enough, no system is perfect.

however, most of the opposition is actually to corporatism,which is identifiable with the united states, and not canada. corporatism is when large companies have more power in government then they should, michael moore’s “capitalism: a love story” is about this.

even then, what they rant about is usually how vacuous consumer culture is, and behave as if nike brainwashes the populace into buying their shoes, and that unless you’re well-read, you have almost no free will. sociologists like to blame today’s deplorable, vapid culture on all the largest multinationals.

i appreciate adbusters and sociologists for pointing out things that aren’t in plain sight, but they shouldn’t be calling capitalism (they mean corporatism) evil.

no matter how many advertisements you’re bombarded with, billboards you see or radio ads you absorb, it is your choice whether or not you buy it, that is the quintessence of the existential nature of capitalism.

another criticism that lefties (don’t jump to conclusions, most of my political views are considered liberal) like to use, is that it’s impossible to ascend in class with capitalism in place. perhaps in brazil or even the united states, this is not an inaccurate assertion, but canadian capitalism tends to be very solid - at least when the ndp aren’t in power. we have enough capitalism that the hardest worker makes the most money (unless you’re in a union), and enough socialism to grant a central bank that keeps the big 5 from tanking (a la lehman brothers).

while i am aware that people that come from terrible households, the sort with no money, domestic abuse or neglect, etc, tend to have a shitty life, that’s a whole other situation where the economic system in place is not to blame. you blame that on culture.

i find that the structuralism stuff is a bunch of crap. my father was born on a farm in new brunswick with very little money, today, with a lot of hard work, he runs a highly profitable engineering business, trades a lot of stock and directs a few public companies.

what you do with the money you worked hard for is your choice. communism is where the fruits of your labour aren’t even yours, they belong to the government, or the people for that matter. what purpose is there in working if a doctor and a janitor get paid almost the same? what point is there in working if i’m not doing it for my goals? i am not an individual if i act solely for other people. if you want to donate to charity, go for it, but i never want to be forced to do that by my government. if a some tax money goes to social programs, i don’t have much of a problem with that, but i don’t want to be taxed like the finnish.

capitalism in canada is highly existential, it is almost entirely your choice how well you do. as long as you are a rationally thinking individual (psychotics and invalids will have a shitty time no matter where), there is little to stop you. you get scholarships if you do well in school, you can get a job or two to pay for university and the government is willing to give you loans, just do yourself and the government a favour and pay it back when you’re done.