American Capitalism

America is a capitalist republic. The people are represented by elected government officials who vote for what they believe is in the best interest for there state and people.

The Capitalism part comes in with businesses. Most businesses have a small amount of regulations to follow from the government to allow free markets and the trade of ideas. But what happens when businesses do not feel the same about governments? Maybe in order to get the upper hand in this always competing free market a business needs to get the upper hand in the government. Now the representing part of our government begins to degrade as corporate lobbyists begin to ask your government officials for “favors” in exchange for a special “extra” paycheck. I, like most people, used to believe a Capitalist Republic is the best governing system in this chaotic world, but when I took a closer look my ignorant self was astonished to see that maybe it's not. Maybe that supposedly tried and failed system called Socialism would benefit not only the U.S. government more but also the American people more.

Where Do the Little People Go: Who Does Capitalism really benefit?

America has an obsession with material goods and possession. Corporations such as Wal-Mart provide us with these cheap items that we seem to obsess over. The consumer goes home after proudly saving a few dollars on the newest items on the market and Wal-Mart injects a little bit more into our economy. It is how capitalism is supposed to work: the consumer consumes and the economy grows while Wal-Mart continues to compete with other businesses like Target. But what about the nice disabled man who greets you at the entrance? Wal-Mart doesn't provide benefits like health insurance and only pays low level workers the least they can. Never mind him and those far away lower-class citizens though- the new episode of American Idol will help you forget about it. And besides what Wal-Mart does for our economy is great right? Why else would they get all those great tax breaks?

The Power Bias: Why the Lower Class Stays So Low and the Rich Get Richer

Those great tax breaks do not go to the entire company. The disabled greeter man pays the same taxes and even the staff manager doesn't see a change in their taxes. Put simply the ones who need the tax breaks don't get the tax breaks. The CEO of Wal-Mart? Well I'm pretty sure he's rich enough to get those tax breaks. If our great Capitalist government was formed upon common sense principles where do tax breaks for the rich fit in? Well here's where lobbyists come in! These tax breaks for the rich most likely took a large paycheck for a large number of people. Such a provocative bill needed an organization to campaign it to the people. At the time this bill was passed, George W. Bush's approval ratings were much higher than they are today and Congress was controlled by a Republican majority. A quick campaign by Republican economic experts was all it took to persuade the masses.

In all these political games where was the poor McDonalds worker? Where was their representative? Two things keep a low income worker away from politics: lack of representation, of course, and money. One thing was constant in the passing of the tax breaks: the constant flow of money in and out of the politician's pockets. American society is largely based on income levels and, as in the passing of certain bills, the power of an American congress or senate is largely based on profits made from lobbyists. So, where was the McDonalds worker in all this? Trying to make ends meet, of course. If the worker decides to get a better education at a community college they would most likely have to quit there job, which they cannot afford to do. This is where the Capitalist-Republic fails America greatest: in the lowest class. It seems the government would prefer to see these people fail and sit on welfare checks all their lives instead of exceeding up, into the global market, to compete with the corporations that have kept them down for so long.

Socialism: Taking another Peek at the Cold War Devil

Many modern day countries, such as France and Denmark, have some form of Socialism so it wouldn't be correct to say Socialism is dead. Soviet-Era Socialism is dead and let me say I do hope it stays that way. America's perspective of Socialism came only from the fascist states of Nazi Germany and Cold War communist countries. What this did was make the American political system stubborn and slowed down any chance of political progression. Political progression is something that has solved big problems in the past and I believe it can do it now. Instead of continuing to push policies that don't seem to work, a government should change those policies. Proposing Socialism as means of solving some problems does not mean I would like to see Capitalism abolished and businesses being taken over by the government as some politicians would like you to believe. It would just be refreshing to see America get a dramatic change in governing systems on certain issues instead of relying solely on people's incentives and businesses that take action.

In Conclusion

Many corporations who see a more Socialist society as a threat to their profits would like to see America continue in the direction of a government controlled not by the people but by big business. It won't be easy for America to start taking another look at forms of Socialism since an entire generation has been fed propaganda campaigning against it, but a time will come when the average American starts realizing who really controls their government. When this time comes no campaign by experts will be able to reassure the American people that everything is alright. A large mass of angered, informed people can bring ruin to any government system. This is the time the government must decide if it wishes to start taking care of its people or hide in the closet even longer because a citizen of a country like America can only take so much inaction by the government.