Income inequality then, income inequality now
Let’s face it: income inequality in our country has gotten out of hand. I know that these words sound like a Marxists slogan. Marxists will always grab at a shred of truth to push their destructive economic policies in the name of fairness. We all know (those of us with functioning brains) that there is no fairness in the world, and there never has been, and there never will be. That does not excuse us from being wary of the extreme divisions arising from unhealthy income inequality. There does exist a point where we cannot ignore the issue as libertarians and conservatives. The disappearance of the middle class is the tipping point in the argument. However, capitalism is not the problem; it is the solution.
It can’t be said often enough, because it is no longer taught, that capitalism has produced the greatest prosperity and the highest standard of living in world history. “A rising tide lifts all boats” is true when it comes to freeing individuals to create wealth without government interference. Remember that wealth can be created only when the creation of a good or a service leads to popular demand. Henry Ford and Bill Gates saw a need and fulfilled it, making themselves fabulously wealthy in the process. None of us is comfortable with the trust fund generation that always accompanies wealth creation. It’s not fair, we say. And it isn’t, but we must accept the byproduct of an economic system that has made all our lives much easier. In some ways, King Louis XIV never had it so good as the guy who lives on East Main Street, USA. That guy has TV, a cell phone, a car, and air travel at his fingertips. All this is made possible by a system that encourages private wealth creation called capitalism.
Something changed drastically on the social landscape from Henry Ford’s time to today. It’s simple: we as a nation moved from the private accumulation of wealth by tycoons who were averse to government interference in their enterprises to a new sort of tycoon who looks to form a public-private consortium between business and government. In other words, we moved slowly from capitalism to fascism (not socialism).
Andrew Carnegie and Henry Ford were full supporters of free enterprise with only the least government regulation. In the case of Ford, he saw to it that his workers could afford to buy his product by paying them a decent wage as assembly line workers. The old tycoon class still considered themselves Americans and wanted the best for their fellow citizens.
At its height, our private-enterprise capitalist system had produced the highest living standard for the greatest number of people in world history. Of course, what accompanied this prosperity was an abundance of extremely wealthy individuals and their families. This wealthy class for the most part were not personally responsible for the wealth they possessed. Their privileged scions gravitated into politics to make the world a better place.
Today’s tycoon class is altogether different. The likes of Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates consider themselves citizens of the world, and their market consists of the whole world. They view governments as partners in a global enterprise not so much for wealth as for power. The private sector and the public sector are no longer distinct entities, but partners in an economic/political enterprise that can only be seen as fascism.
The Ford-type tycoon was a loyal citizen in the game — for the money, for sure, but also for the advantage of his home country. Today’s fascist billionaires do not consider America their home country and have no special affinity for the American people. The object of their enterprise is world political domination for power and control. They couldn’t care less for loss of Americans’ standard of living and the disappearance of the middle class.
In a perfect world, there would be no unfair advantage built into the system. A perfect world is a dream world that does not and cannot exist. The utopian dream of the Marxist never dies, even though it has cost humanity more misery than any other political philosophy. So yes, capitalism breeds inequality based upon a merit-based economy. The more your product or service pleases your neighbor, the more he is willing to pay you for it. Both parties’ lives are improved, but the producer of the good or service gains exponentially…and income inequality is the outcome. As a capitalist culture, we have always recognized this fact but were able to live with the overall improvement in the populace’s standard of living.
In today’s fascist situation, the exponential explosion in income inequality has brought no general benefit and has indeed brought a sharp drop in the standard of living. We are witnesses to what happens when an economic model moves from capitalism to fascism. It is a sorry spectacle. What we used to think was income inequality under capitalism looks like fairness in comparison. Now we will have to see what the effort at fascist world government has in store for the future.
Image: pasja1000 via Pixabay, Pixabay License.