Reflections From a Murky Pond

We so often hear from the Liberals, Progressives, Socialists, Communists, and Anarchists – in other words, Democrats in general – that Capitalism is unsustainable. The thing is that, in a very odd way, these Leftists are correct. Capitalism isn’t sustainable, it’s sustaining.

Simply put, Capitalism is what sustains the world, its peoples, and all of the world’s civilizations. Without it many or most would die.

The only time that non-Capitalist nations produce anything of note at anywhere near the rate of Capitalist nations is when Nationalism is a core component of those nations, e.g., the USSR during the Cold War. Yet most of those non-Capitalist nation, along with everyone else, receive a share of the benefit of the wealth and advances created under- and due to Capitalism as an economic foundation.

And no, this is not hyperbole. Capitalism is and has been the only economic system that provides at least semi-stable growth over the long haul. As such, it is the only economic system that fosters an environment of innovation and growth. To reject it now would result in a human catastrophe to rival the Great Flood, albeit one that would be slower and more torturous.

Altruism Alone Does Little To Nothing

Altruism may be a vector in choosing what to do, but alone it’s neither enough motivation nor a viable sole goal to both get people to do something of notable worth for society and provide them the means to do so. That takes money, money of note at least somewhat equal to the societal benefit to be gained.

And that is the underpinning of why Capitalism is what sustains progress and the material benefits of any civilization. No other economic system has, can, or likely will consistently provide the fertile soil for those things at a level comparable to Capitalism.

But It’s Not Fair!

“It’s not fair!” That is the most common complaint about Capitalism from its opponents. This complaint stems from the fact that Capitalism doesn’t normally have equal results, because it is fair. The more and more appropriate to the specific market effort is put into capitalism, the greater the result in almost all cases.

But that’s their problem. Capitalism takes work, hard and smart work, if one wants to benefit from it. It actually normally takes working harder smarter and working smarter harder to really materially succeed. Most people, and almost all of the anti-Capitalists, don’t like that at all. They don’t like meritocracies one little bit, because not everyone does as well in them as everyone – or even some fraction thereof – else.

A Multi-Generational Caveat

The one caveat to the “fairness” of Capitalism is that, properly managed, wealth is multi-generational. We pass our success onto our progeny, and this provides them an inherently advantaged starting position from which to build their own success. Hence, each generation of a family in Capitalism can be materially better off than the one before. And that can easily come across as seeming unfair to those struggling from a start-up position.

This also leads to the enemies of Capitalism claiming that Capitalism is racist. Since the vast majority of Blacks don’t grow up in a normative family structure that would to some extent shield them from poverty, they’re almost always starting from square one.

Where It Does Fall Apart

But, Capitalism isn’t perfect. It’s vulnerable to subornation and is especially bad when it is suborned. Whenever a government steps in and inserts itself into a Capitalist economy, whether it be to further certain sorts of endeavors or to adjust success to achieve what is now called Equity, things devolve rather quickly and to very few people’s long-term benefit.

And, it also breaks down quickly and rather horrifically when companies insert or subsume government functions such as the Company Towns that still exist in some fashion today, e.g., Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District, where they are essentially the government as well as the primary employer.

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So, while the Liberals, Progressives, Socialists, Communists, and Anarchists – in other words, Democrats in general – whine, scream, rant, and rave that Capitalism is unsustainable, it is literally what sustains the world and allows for all or most forms of material progress. Then, they have nothing to truly measure it against, since no non-Capitalist economic system has independently sustained itself long enough to determine its long-term effects.

Much like Democracy is to governmental forms, Capitalism is the worst form of Economy except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.

Please, don’t eat Wheaties! Look at what a decades-long steady diet of them did to Bruce Jenner. And, this shouldn’t come as a shock. Breakfast cereals like this were originally developed to lower testosterone in boys and men. 😆

As we begin the march into Summer weather, let’s all remember that your tanlines say lot about you. 😆

Starting in the mid-1950s, America has been dealing with nigh on constant cries – often violent cries – for equality and the destruction of what racial activists have decried as White Supremacy. That was, as problematical and poorly thought out as it was, a necessary pain. There was at that time deliberate and government-enforced inequality between Whites and non-Whites. As such, cries for equality were not inherently a bad thing.

In all truth, back then, it was a good and necessary thing that they won and that the Civil Rights Movement, for all its chaos and flaws, won the day. Though, even then, it was not enough for the Blacks or their enablers and even the venerated MLK later decided that “reparations” should be handed out to his people, thereby setting the stage for later woes.

And therein was the rot that twisted and distorted Civil Rights into the sick caricature and anti-American thing it is today. Equality was decided soon after it was achieved to be not nearly enough.

Equity vs. Equality

Equality – what used to be purported as a good thing and a goal – meant each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities. Equity – the Left’s and their minorities’ newspeak for wanting more – states that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome irrespective of those circumstances or their input into the process.

Yes; that’s the sad and maddening truth of what Civil Rights have been corrupted into devolving down to. Equality is deprecated among minorities, especially the Blacks, and their “woke” enablers in these times. Now the word is “Equity” and it is a strident demand for special privileges and advantages, preferably and most often mandatorily at the expense of White people, especially White Men, and most especially Straight White Men.

And this isn’t just hateful and wrongheaded rhetoric. Both government agencies and private sector corporations are putting tangible measure into place to give minorities special advantages and privileges, including but not limited to: prioritized hiring and promotions, special career-based educational programs, and special protections against Whites.

At The Risk Of “Shadowing” Things

At the marginal risk of “shadowing” the issue and its problems, and repeating the judgemental errors of the Warren Court’s opinion on Roe v. Wade, it’s my opinion that the actions taken to further Equity instead of Equality are not just wrong, racist, sexist, heterophobic, and pernicious, they’re unconstitutional and a violation of White people’s – specially Straight White Men – Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. There is little to no functional difference between providing special benefits to people based upon their race, creed, color, gender, or sexual proclivities and denying them such based upon those same criteria. Either way, it falls solidly under the Penumbra of the 14th Amendment and, hence, should be considered a violation of the Civil Rights Act.

Of course, the Left, their minorities, and their politicians disagree with this. Or rather, even if they agree with the premise, they don’t care. Their point in switching from equality to equity was explicitly to take current wealth and future opportunity from Whites and redistribute to others. And, the taking is at least as important to them as their redistributing is.