As Egyptians revolt against President Hosni Mubarek, news accounts warn that “instability” threatens stock market volatility. How much does this reveal about our economic system?
People Fight for Freedom. Markets Panic.
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication, WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal, a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "The Stringer."
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Uh …. everything?
This is exactly why humans are screwed, and of course we will drag down a lot of species with us. Meaning, we will destroy and consume everything in our path in the name of capitalism. I thought that was obvious to everyone by now.
This is the hopelessness of such a ethically bankrupt system. You can have people fighting for freedom if that means less profits for some multinational corporation. No siree. Democracy is only good when corporations profit. Otherwise … not so good. Starvation? No problem as long as the profits roll in. In fact, if solving starvation in some region means losses for Monsanto, then such a solution must be stopped from being implemented. Monsanto has a fiduciary responsibility to the shareholders after all. In fact, it would be ILLEGAL for them to try and stop starvation in a given region if it was against their shareholders interest. So … let ’em starve if need be.
Here’s another good one. A major British medical school released a study recently which stated that even though a vegetarian diet may be healthier for humans, countries would be advised to NOT promote such a diet because of the economic impact it would have on certain industries. They said, and I quote, “While it’s good for people to be healthy, it’s also good for everyone to have a job”. So, if more people decided to go vegetarian, western governments would likely start propagandizing against such a diet or start propping up the meat industry. Why? Capitalism says so, that’s why. We can’t expect people to have a healthy diet if it means less jobs, right? Markets are free, except when they’re not.
How can anyone expect such an ethically bankrupt system to survive long term. Short term? Sure. No problem. Long term though, capitalism will fail and be remembered as an utter disaster. Capitalism is the single greatest scam in human history. So many are convinced that capitalism is the greatest system ever when it’s the exact opposite. It’s an utter disaster. A slow-motion disaster.
One quibble, exkiodexian:
The U.S. government is already propping up the meat industry.
So many are convinced that capitalism is the greatest system ever when it’s the exact opposite. It’s an utter disaster. A slow-motion disaster.
As opposed to socialism (the actual experiment, not the daydreaming speculation of cloud dwellers present and past), which was a fast-paced, action packed, gorefest.
On another note, a purely vegetarian diet is not healthier. Nutrition for as omnivorous animals is all about balance.
Capitalism, judged on its own merits, is a complete disaster. It will destroy all life if we let it. Now that doesn’t that Stalinist or Maoist style solutions are all that we have. Its worth a shot to try some other forms of socialism. In fact our whole idea of how an economy should be judged should be re-worked, as technology increases the number of humans required to achieve the same results dwindle. Why cant we move to a form of society where no one is compelled to work, period. It will take a long time to cultivate the right kind of people for this to have any chance at success but how else do we solve the oversupply of labor? we cant just make up jobs that dont need to be done.