Problem: Laissez-faire Capitalism

The problem of the idea of money is (actually) most likely as old as humanity.  Money, in all its forms, is simply a method of barter.  Bartering systems have varied over time, ranging from rocks and livestock and other things throughout history.  However, capitalism goes beyond the concept of bartering.  Capitalism is the concept of profitizing.  Nowadays, especially in the USA, capitalism has taken on a religious tinge which gives it some of the same qualities and problems as religious belief.  So, the idea/concept of using money as a system of barter is not the issue, the ideological fetishes regarding profit is. 

Profit-at-all-costs is the end result of laissez-faire capitalism.  This, in short, is the problem.  This has cost the American society dearly morally, socially, and politically and culturally.  One aspect of this problem is the so-called ‘Protestant work ethic”, which leads to meritocratic worth above all else and creates a moral worth to economic standing.  Secondly, capitalism has led to an oligarchical and plutocratic governing system that is unhealthy and even dangerous.

Lastly, laissez-faire capitalism corrupts the concept of civilization; it undermines a core value system that allows peaceful societies to exist by rendering unfair the barter system itself.  Profit-at-all-costs  undermines trust in the economic system of a country.  It is important to remember that greed is not a basic good, something capitalists throughout time have seemed to forgotten.

Solution:  Government Regulation

FDR introduced “The New Deal” early last century when capitalism-run-amok tanked the American economy, and it is a good start as a solution today.  Furthermore, anti-trust laws are already in place to rectify the problem of capitalism, but have simply been relegated to legal trash heaps by the Republicans in particular and indirectly by Democrats.  They are The Sherman Antitrust Act, The Clayton Act, and The Federal Trade Commission Act. 

The Sherman Antitrust Act deals with unfair and deceptive contracts and trading (think Wall Street) while The Federal Trade Commission Act deals with deceptive ‘acts and practices’ such as the housing bust in and the reasons the government (we the people) had to bail out the banks.  The Clayton Act was put into place to cover issues not covered by the previous two.  There is also the McCain-Feingold Act which, in part, was put in place to battle Citizens United (a heinous piece of pathetic legislation that undermines all vestiges of fair-trade practices).

Secondly, government is not a business and cannot be run as such.  It is a platform upon which societies are built, and like all such platforms, it is conceptual, not financial.  The question, as is the case with most socio-political questions, is what kind of society do we as individuals want to live in, and government is an answer to that question.  Laissez-faire capitalists, Libertarians and Republicans mostly, have answered this question loud and clear as to the kind of society that they desire, and the consequences of their decision has not boded well for civil, fair, peaceful societies.