The big social battle of the last century was capitalism versus communism. Capitalism won. Huzzahs all around. Now that battle is over, it’s apparently time for a new one. Welcome to the 21st century — a century that has been christened in the fire of a worldwide financial crisis. Today, capitalism is being challenged like never before.
In the last century, capitalism was successful in producing wealth for many and halting the spread of poverty that was so endemic to the turn of the 20th century. But today, capitalism is losing its ability to effectively serve mankind. The world’s increasing population — and humanity’s increasing need — is outpacing capitalism’s ability produce enough wealth. Capitalism’s vision was the creation of so much wealth that it would produce jobs and incomes for every able body. Trickle down economics. Somewhere along the way, vision and reality separated.
Had humanity and capitalism achieved its true potential in the 20th century, poverty and hunger would be a thing of the past. We had hoped that World War II would be the war to end all wars. The purpose behind the battle between capitalism and communism was to determine a better path to a better society. We were idealistic back then.
Now, after a century of so-called progress, we still struggle with poverty, hunger and war. And today, we can add to our struggles education, healthcare, energy, and even safe food and water. Our advancements in these areas has only created a greater divide between the haves and the have-nots. A good education, responsible healthcare, clean energy that doesn’t pollute and kill, and safe food and water are increasingly becoming privileges of the wealthy class and hopelessly out of the reach of the poor.
What happened? Where did we fail? We allowed the greedy rich to hijack capitalism for their own enrichment. We let them do this when we quit practicing democracy. The majority became comfortable with the little amount of wealth they had — better than their parents had. And they quit striving for a better society for everyone. And the greedy rich were more than happy to let them think that the job of making a better society was done. No need to change a thing.
It’s not hard to accept that, today, we do need a change. We may not agree on what needs to be changed or how much it needs to change. But change is inevitable. So what will change? Will it be the way we do politics in this country? Will it be the way we govern? Will it be the way we conduct ourselves in the world? Or the way we take care of ourselves at home? These are the same questions that fueled the battle between capitalism and communism over a century ago. Capitalism won. Bring on the next contender. And please, bring it on quickly.
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