A TED Talk On How Capitalism Can Be Good™
Saturday, November 29th, 2008A friend sent me this link to a TED talk. I found it interesting especially in light of the conversation I had earlier today with my wife and another I had (also today) with my dear friend Suha Araj.
The gist of the talk is this: Good people (ie: people with good intentions) can find ways to make profit an do good in the world. What I find strange in this whole discussion is the notion that this is somehow extraordinary. In any system good folks will do good deeds. In some they will be rewarded while in others they will be punished. But is is human nature to want to do good.
I believe Capitalism (and by that I mean what we have ruling the world today) starves the good and rewards the bad. Yes, it is possible to do good and make it, but it is not the norm and it is not how the system is designed. Our system is designed around self-interest. I am all for folks learning about themselves and what makes them tick. I want nothing more than for folks to live in a world that celebrates the individual and rewards those who figure out what it is that makes them special… what makes them unique.
But Capitalism does not do that. Instead, it rewards our worst because it celebrates progress at the expense of others. No one wants to step on another to get ahead. Almost all of us will in order to survive.
[Side Note: While I may be romanticizing the Native Americans, I love the idea that many of them chose death rather than to fight and kill for their own survival. Ultimately, I believe that is the greatest leason humans can learn - that to survive is a pyrrhic victory if the only way to do it is to harm another.]
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We were driving down from Portland, Or. today after visiting our friends the Wall-Johnson’s and we passed by Mt. Shasta. Margaret was remarking on the landscape and how beautiful it was. Me being me remarked on how I thought it was a waste for private citizens to own land for cattle raising. “It is such a shame that our culture has grown up around beef and the destruction of all that it brings. Why should one family be given the rights of a patch of land to enrich themselves? What kind of sick culture do we live in where we are motivated by greed? Yes, making money is a powerful motivator and it can get people to do quite productive things. But in the process we lose our humanity and strive for something bad instead of turning towards the good in all of us. We reward that which makes us less human and toss away that which can set us free from pain and suffering. Why not simply produce for the sake of the betterment of our world?”
Margaret, who is used to my ramblings, asked; “Yes, that is all well and good, but who gets to decide? Should we not have anything we can claim as our own?”
I am all for private ownership. Your house. The things you use to help you through the day. I get all that. We need, as humans, to make our mark on the world and feel like what we do is ours to hold and keep. It is one of the reasons Black folk are so messed up. As my father used to say; “There is nothing a Black person can own that White people can not take away.” Just today I heard Margaret tell our son; “If you learn to read that sentence, no one can ever take it away from you.” I pondered for quite a while how quaint is the idea that you can actually own something… and how fundamental it is to the dominant society.
I never grew up owning anything. I never formed attachments. I never felt that anything was mine. Nothing, that is, except what was within me. And so it is that I honor that desire to own, to hold, to posses.
But I also know happiness is not based on what you have but who you are… and who you live with. Happiness comes from within and from the people who you surround yourself with every day. I am happy that I have the Wall-Johnson’s to look forward to every Thanksgiving. While I may not see them all year, when I do, they bring me peace and solitude. It is that sort of thing that will make people whole… not how many cars we own, how big our house, or what college I can send my children to. What matters is the human connections.
And there in lies the rub of this TED talk. I admire the guy. His heart is in the right place. But he is asking the wrong question. The question is not, how can we make a life for ourselves within a Capitalist system. The question is; How can we make a world that is worth living in? If Capitalism is the answer, great – make it work. But I think we can do better. Making money in a Capitalist system will always be easy for folks like him and me. We are the elite. The system is designed to reward us.
No… the true measure of a successful system is quite simple: Does it reward what is good in us and does it encourage us to be better? Those women who now own those phones are simply ambassadors of Capitalism. They are all but indistinguishable from Peace Corpse volunteers who help sell “The American Way” to those most vulnerable to our excess. Yes, the women are better off. But does this solution encourage them to be better P-E-O-P-L-E or does it just give them a way to invest more in a corrupt system that is sapping them of their life essence?
There should be:
No borders
No military
No money
