Public Revolt Builds Against Rip-off

Watching the crowds in Iceland banging pots and pans until their government fell reminded me of a chant popular in anti-capitalist circles in 2002: “You are Enron. We are Argentina.”

Its message was simple enough. You–politicians and CEOs huddled at some trade summit–are like the reckless scamming execs at Enron (of course, we didn’t know the half of it). We–the rabble outside–are like the people of Argentina, who, in the midst of an economic crisis eerily similar to our own, took to the street banging pots and pans. They shouted, “¡Que se vayan todos!” (”All of them must go!”) and forced out a procession of four presidents in less than three weeks. What made Argentina’s 2001-02 uprising unique was that it wasn’t directed at a particular political party or even at corruption in the abstract. The target was the dominant economic model–this was the first national revolt against contemporary deregulated capitalism.

It’s taken a while, but from Iceland to Latvia, South Korea to Greece, the rest of the world is finally having its ¡Que se vayan todos! Moment. [1]

In this article Naomi Klien went on to conclude;

The pattern is clear: governments that respond to a crisis created by free-market ideology with an acceleration of that same discredited agenda will not survive to tell the tale. As Italy’s students have taken to shouting in the streets: “We won’t pay for your crisis!”

OK, like a alcoholic at an AA meeting I stand up and admit that I am a capitalist, in that I believe that everyone should have the right, should they choose to do so, to manufacture or buy and resell with the intention of realizing a profit.  BUT common sense tells me and it should also tell you based upon the events of the last several months, THAT totally unregulated capitalism leads to anarchy due to the simple fact that most capitalists can not resist the temptation of greed and corruption.

Even leading CEOs of major corporations (that have fallen) have gone on record as saying that “short term profitability gave way to long term viability” and resulted in financial ruin.  In other words they are trying to say “we got greedy” and pursued an economic model that lead to bankruptcy instead of an economic model that lead to lasting sustainability.  And this concept is what many people of the world are speaking out against, the greed and corruption of a few that took advantage of unregulated free markets.  And Americans should join with their brothers and sisters from around the world and cry enough is enough, the politicians and regulators that allowed this to happen as well as the crooks that perpetuated this crime against humanity must go.  To continue this failed economic model will in all probability result in a world wide economic collapse, possibly even wars as billions of people around the war tire of hunger, in general anarchy caused by personal greed of a very small number of elitists who frankly could not care less about the welfare of the people of the world.

This is what we must hope for, look for, and pray for, a return to common sense where a fair day’s work is rewarded with a fair day’s pay and a fair and equitable return on our investments through a well and fairly regulated capitalist system, in which long term sustainability is more important than short term profitability.

[1]By: Naomi Klein: Public Revolt Builds Against Rip-off Rescue Plans for the Economy
published in, The Nation
Posted on February 6, 2009,
http://www.alternet.org/story/125566/