My colleague Jim Waters at the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy frequently takes a stand for capitalism in his weekly syndicated column. Jim writes with passion and firmly believes what he writes about. I admire Jim’s passion, but I don’t always agree with his positions.
When I saw a “Page 2” column by Anand Giridharadas in the June 5 International Herald Tribune, I thought about some of Jim’s recent columns. Giridharadas writes: “It is surreal to live in the so-called third world, in a country belatedly stumbling on capitalism, and to hear Americans, of all people, heralding its end. It feels like watching your parents fight for the first time.” Government bailouts of giant corporations, voices striking out at the evil of personal financial gain (code for “greed”) and frequently surfacing discussions of hoisting more of the tax burden on the wealthy gives many Americans pause.
It must certainly baffle residents throughout the world, many who have come to find capitalism as the great equalizer.
Giridharadas reports: “On the streets of Mumbai, still in the early stages of capitalist development, one sees not the emptiness of money but rather its vitality: a power to breathe dignity into the poor, to foster social change, to spur a culture of self-improvement, even to rinse away unearned privilege.”
But again, doesn’t the “truth” or perhaps better stated “the reality” lie somewhere in the middle?
One of Giridharadas’ sources reflects on that.
“To straighten a bent stick, we bend it in the contrary way,” Michel de Montaigne said. So when it comes to capitalism, how bent do you think America’s stick has become in the past few years and how do we go forward?
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