US <> Capitalism

The United States Does Not Equal Capitalism

In my not so humble opinion, this country was founded on the concept of freedom, not capitalism. Somewhere along the way I think we lost sight of that and began equating capitalism with the US, and started elevating capitalism above freedom to the point where we now have our government attempting to enforce capitalism at the expense of our freedom. What's worse, any time we have government interference in capitalism it is attacked as a communist maneuver. I am not an advocate of communism in the US or anywhere else for that matter so please don't assume that is my point here.

Consider our monopoly laws and unions. Henry Ford and his ilk went to great lengths to squash unionization, and many supported anti-unions views with the rationale being they were fronts for communists and criminals but at the end of the day from the mile high perspective are unions not just a way for the average American worker to try to reclaim some of their life and freedom? Am I the only one who reads Steinbeck anymore?

The opposite of freedom is control and control comes in many subtle forms, not the least of which is financial control. Monopolies are illegal mainly because they attempt to control us, thus taking away our freedoms in a particular area. It is a classic example of freedom controlling capitalism, and it is not anti-American and communistic to have and enforce monopoly laws, it is exactly the American thing to do if we cherish our freedom above capitalism. 

I am anti-welfare, anti-food stamps, etc. I do not agree with wealth re-distribution via taxation to enable a permanent underclass or allow the government to expand to monstrous pre proportions but I do believe somewhere along the way we have allowed the corruption that comes with money to misguide us into defending the ultra-wealthy at the expense of our basic freedoms. It is not noble to support a pharmaceutical company's excessive pricing for the sake of capitalism while Americans die because they can not afford contribute to that company's bottom line. It is not American to allow insurance companies to take nearly 80% of every dollar spent on healthcare. It is actually anti-American to place money above life, thereby depriving an American of their most basic freedom for the sake of capitalism. America does not equal capitalism it equals freedom. Push comes to shove, capitalism loses. 

Consider the American sports industry as an example. At one point these guys were dealt with as property. The wealthy owners colluded, poor-mouthed and alluded to communism when they fought player unionization. Now the greedy players share in the wealth with the greedy owners. There was obviously enough money to go around. The player's unions did not signal the end of the sport, but rather it was the beginning of more freedom for the players at the expense of the owner's bottom line (wealth distribution) which is kind of my point. It is better for the economy when more than one person can afford to buy a loaf of bread.