Capitalism Will Destroy Itself
Capitalism is, and always will be, irredeemably evil. To state that truth, openly and starkly, is merely to express an unavoidable verity that can be perceived and understood by any person who has the capacity to think along reasonable lines. How can an irrational way of life, one that is founded on the unholy combination of relentless greed, unrepentant selfishness, bottomless debt, and repeated lies, ever be seen as anything other than completely wrong and profoundly inhuman? How could anyone ever believe, even briefly, even for a moment, that such a vile, shallow way of living has the ability to endure forever? How much longer will it be until the whole thing falls apart?
Beginning in the 1980s, when Ronald Reagan was the President of the United States, American capitalism (always a shameless example of capitalism at its absolute worst) abandoned even the illusion of maintaining any policies of caution or restraint, letting corporations and banks run dangerously wild, and allowing them to become richer and richer. At the same time, the cost of living for the American people grew higher every year, with most of the goods and services that are necessary to daily life coming primarily from corporate sources. Americans were steered into the alluring trap of capitalist excess, recklessly pursuing an unwholesome life of luxury and debt, with most of them spending far beyond their own means, casually burning through acres of money as if they were careless millionaires.
America thus became a depraved nation of grasping fools, a nation in which every decision, whether major or minor, in every sphere of life, is made with money as the main consideration. As a result, most Americans live in an illusory condition of perverse self-satisfaction, happily (but wrongly) believing themselves to be divinely entitled to seek untold wealth and endless plenty, while millions of "less fortunate" people around the world are needlessly forced to suffer extreme poverty and lifelong hardship. Millions of comfortable Americans have chosen to turn a blind eye to the appalling deprivation that prevails in poor countries, while unfairly enjoying the ill-gotten rewards of capitalism and mistakenly thinking of themselves as admirably righteous. What excuse can there be for such a glaring lack of compassion?
Capitalism is not only evil, but also represents a mentality that has proven itself to be ineffective and unsustainable. A collective ambition to be inordinately rich does not provide a strong, or lasting, framework for the ongoing progress of a nation. On the contrary, it is an injurious pursuit, inevitably leading to weakness, dishonesty, and corruption. Citizens who become unduly concerned with looking out only for their own advantage are inclined to become separated from the root of their essential humanity, and as a result, their general welfare is gravely undermined. Capitalism always brings out the most heinous elements in people, and therefore is seriously harmful to the common precepts of freedom and democracy.
Once greed and self-interest have become the first priorities in a nation, the deeper quality of life for the citizens of that nation is destined to diminish. When people are encouraged and directed to attain prosperity, even when it comes at the expense of the community as a whole, their range of potential happiness becomes narrower and narrower, and the feverish desire for money soon takes precedence over everything. In time, money and the things that can be purchased with money come to be regarded as having more value than human beings. When a nation loses its moral perspective to that degree, it has lost something that is extremely difficult to reclaim.
It is beyond question that capitalism is faltering in the 21st century, and heading toward a brutal conclusion. Stock markets are shaky and getting shakier, business ventures are failing in record numbers, and millions of workers are unemployed or underemployed. Capitalism has assumed the dreadful character of a demon: hellish, hungry, and out of control, bent on consuming every trace of morality that comes within its filthy reach. Capitalist leaders may hide themselves behind the cover of so-called free enterprise and attempt to deny the full extent of what is happening, preferring to pretend that everything will be straightened out, and spineless citizens may continually turn their eyes away from the grim evidence that surrounds them, but the hard truth is there to be seen, by those who are willing to see it.
What does the future hold for capitalism? Greed and irrationality may continue to rule the day in the short term, but there can be no question that an overdue reckoning is coming. It is certain that the current reign of heedless capitalism will not last. Capitalism has already reached a state of pronounced decay, and in the end it will destroy itself, wretchedly expiring in the abject manner of a degraded junkie who is pitiably compelled toward a final, fatal overdose. When that happens, and in the long term it most assuredly is going to happen, it will result in widespread ruin and extensive misery, and mankind will have ample reason to rue the past decades of unbridled avarice.
Beginning in the 1980s, when Ronald Reagan was the President of the United States, American capitalism (always a shameless example of capitalism at its absolute worst) abandoned even the illusion of maintaining any policies of caution or restraint, letting corporations and banks run dangerously wild, and allowing them to become richer and richer. At the same time, the cost of living for the American people grew higher every year, with most of the goods and services that are necessary to daily life coming primarily from corporate sources. Americans were steered into the alluring trap of capitalist excess, recklessly pursuing an unwholesome life of luxury and debt, with most of them spending far beyond their own means, casually burning through acres of money as if they were careless millionaires.
America thus became a depraved nation of grasping fools, a nation in which every decision, whether major or minor, in every sphere of life, is made with money as the main consideration. As a result, most Americans live in an illusory condition of perverse self-satisfaction, happily (but wrongly) believing themselves to be divinely entitled to seek untold wealth and endless plenty, while millions of "less fortunate" people around the world are needlessly forced to suffer extreme poverty and lifelong hardship. Millions of comfortable Americans have chosen to turn a blind eye to the appalling deprivation that prevails in poor countries, while unfairly enjoying the ill-gotten rewards of capitalism and mistakenly thinking of themselves as admirably righteous. What excuse can there be for such a glaring lack of compassion?
Capitalism is not only evil, but also represents a mentality that has proven itself to be ineffective and unsustainable. A collective ambition to be inordinately rich does not provide a strong, or lasting, framework for the ongoing progress of a nation. On the contrary, it is an injurious pursuit, inevitably leading to weakness, dishonesty, and corruption. Citizens who become unduly concerned with looking out only for their own advantage are inclined to become separated from the root of their essential humanity, and as a result, their general welfare is gravely undermined. Capitalism always brings out the most heinous elements in people, and therefore is seriously harmful to the common precepts of freedom and democracy.
Once greed and self-interest have become the first priorities in a nation, the deeper quality of life for the citizens of that nation is destined to diminish. When people are encouraged and directed to attain prosperity, even when it comes at the expense of the community as a whole, their range of potential happiness becomes narrower and narrower, and the feverish desire for money soon takes precedence over everything. In time, money and the things that can be purchased with money come to be regarded as having more value than human beings. When a nation loses its moral perspective to that degree, it has lost something that is extremely difficult to reclaim.
It is beyond question that capitalism is faltering in the 21st century, and heading toward a brutal conclusion. Stock markets are shaky and getting shakier, business ventures are failing in record numbers, and millions of workers are unemployed or underemployed. Capitalism has assumed the dreadful character of a demon: hellish, hungry, and out of control, bent on consuming every trace of morality that comes within its filthy reach. Capitalist leaders may hide themselves behind the cover of so-called free enterprise and attempt to deny the full extent of what is happening, preferring to pretend that everything will be straightened out, and spineless citizens may continually turn their eyes away from the grim evidence that surrounds them, but the hard truth is there to be seen, by those who are willing to see it.
What does the future hold for capitalism? Greed and irrationality may continue to rule the day in the short term, but there can be no question that an overdue reckoning is coming. It is certain that the current reign of heedless capitalism will not last. Capitalism has already reached a state of pronounced decay, and in the end it will destroy itself, wretchedly expiring in the abject manner of a degraded junkie who is pitiably compelled toward a final, fatal overdose. When that happens, and in the long term it most assuredly is going to happen, it will result in widespread ruin and extensive misery, and mankind will have ample reason to rue the past decades of unbridled avarice.