Capitalism Applies to Everyone - Including Big Business

By Jim Wiandt

This goes out to Matt Hougan - the financial media (and government) are screaming like a bunch of little girls, and you call that censorship?

I have never seen so much alarmist talk since, uh, last week, or last month or last year, or 5 years ago. And Matt, welcome to the crowd. You've served us up with a good slice of fear and loathing: "We are in completely unchartered waters here."

Are we?

I remember when the sky was falling in around the savings and loan crisis. The tech collapse was going to be the 1970s all over again. And surely, the 1970s were a prelude to Armageddon. I'm telling you, I just sit here and grimace at the bailout.

Capitalism, my backside. When people get greedy and take too much risk, they darned well ought to pay the price for it. And if that means 5 of the biggest banks going out of business, then so be it. I don't see anyone sitting in the wings waiting to bail me out when I do something stupid.

Millions will be jobless, the biggest crisis since the Great Depression, these companies are too big to be allowed to go out of business. A bunch of little girls. I just groan at the site of corporate welfare, because that's what it is. The tax system and regulatory structure are already bent into impossible shapes by the fact that corporate America already writes the tax code in just about any area you examine. And now that a crisis hits, we're supposed to bail them out because they made some dumb choices?

It stinks like the fishing docks around here, 6 hours after the catch in the hot afternoon sun.

Let them go out of business! Let some smart institutions step into their place. The world is not going to fall to pieces. I'm not sure how many people are with me on this... not many it appears. I'm not interested in the collapse of our financial system either, but sending the message that no matter what the mismanagement, there can always be a bailout, is something we ought to be very circumspect about.

Whatever happened to the idea of, well, the market? Let the fire burn out the underbrush, because if we don't, the next fire is just going to be loaded up with enough kindling to burn down the whole forest. And in the face of that, no government, including that of the U.S., is going to be able to do a thing about it.

So I'm in a ranting mood. All of this does grate on me. That said, I do think that we need to throw up some firebreaks. But we'd better also be burning out some of that underbrush and making darned sure that the people taking the bailout money are paying a price for their ineptitude and greed. The problem, to a degree, is that the foxes are running the henhouse.

Capitalism has its hard side to it, but that's what brings in the... capital. And if we're going to hold our society to capitalist principles, I say we should include the large companies in that mix.

Comments

[msoori:]

Yep, and they put the blame on declining real estate prices. Why not ask why the real estate prices are declining? Its because of foreclosures... then why is foreclosures happening? Can we trace the root cause of all this to continuing off-shoring of American Jobs? Read more at xmplary.blogspot.com

2008 Sep 29 08:24 AM

[sieraromero:]

It seems to me that we are bailing out all of these "to big to fail" firms by creating bigger " to big to fail " firms. Any and all money used by and under this bailout should be "immediatly" reported to the major financial presses by the government "before" the money is actually dispersed so we can see who the taxpayer is enriching and try to figure out why. They will say that this is unworkable and will make it immprobable that the troubled firms will not want to participate and take the taxpayers money. I SAY GREAT!! We should not force them. Let the market and their free market principles decide what is best for these firms. TAXPAYER MONEY SHOULD ONLY BE USED ON THE TAXPAYER'S TERMS AND NOT THE BORROWERS TERMS! I personally do not believe the best options have been presented or discussed in ernest by or so called leaders in the financial and government world,but something should be done as a bandaid approach only to sooth the markets temporarily. We need leaders to think outside the box!

2008 Sep 29 08:39 AM

[freeAgent:]

Yes, capitalists are in the unfortunate minority these days. It irks me to no end that this crisis is being called a failure of the market. The show is and has been run by corporate interests. What we need to do is cut back the government and let these institutions reap what they have sowed. Too bad that ain't gonna happen.

2008 Sep 29 09:50 AM

[waaaja:]

I am totally with you. Let them fail that's what capitalism is. I believe some enterprising people would turn this around. Every few years we seem to go through some crisis and yet we are still here. Yes people might lose jobs but new jobs would also be created. There would be a whole new market created by the people who use this failure to there advantage. The way it is the guys who caused the problem benefit and that should not happen . I am not just talking about the executives I am talking about the idiots in congress I'm looking right at you Chris Dodd and Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi you all sat around and let this happen. Now you have the nerve to push your faces on tv like you are the big saviors PLEASE.

2008 Sep 29 01:04 PM