Capitalism - An Ideal for Living

Many people want to write the eulogy of Capitalism these days. They beg us to create a long view and see that the ideological underpinnings of Capitalism are devoid of substance and emotionally unfulfilling. They tell us it can only lead to destrcution and ruin due to its vapid twists and emotionless turns.

They want future authors to write the follwoing eulogy in the RSS feeds of the future:

"They blindly followed an Ideological path that was deeply rooted in the consuption of goods and services; ultimately consumption became the sole "lubricant" for political and soical discourse, and the society crumbled.".

But I think they are just victims of a bad upbringing. An "Un-Capitlaist" upbringing. The Socialist movements of the 1920s and 1930s injected a remorse into this country. An obtuse social meme that created disgust at the idea of consuption for the sake of ideology. Some embraced this philisophy and others rejected it. That is the beauty of America. I think having the two co-exist is like mixing oil and water. There is no logical way one can compliment the other.

Fast forward to today. 2006 in America.

Many still feel as though "consumption" is a bad thing. They bemoan the "commercialism of Christmas". They lament the directionless "brand identities" that promise a euphoric experience, only to leave us hollow with an incredible lack of substance. I say this is the wrong way to accept Capitalism as an ideal for living. In order to fully appreciate the fredoms that Capitalism brings us as an ideology, Capitalism must be embraced as a balance of consumption and hard work.

Without the "hard work" part. Capitalism is vapid and devoid of substance. However if you throw the "hard work" part back in, consumption becomes the reward for achieving a goal. It is the exact format the human spirit needs to exist and fourish. Capitalism, in this way is the only true ideology uniquely suited to the human condition. All other ideologies pale in comparison to the strength of harnessing the human condition.

Fact is, Chrstmas really IS commercial. If it were not for the period of time between the day after Thanksgiving to the first of the year, I can think of at least 5 major business sectors that would not exist. The truth is (Virginia), Christmas is a Capitalist holiday. A virtual orgy of consumption and spending that lets the governing influences of capitalism know how to plan for the next year of spending and consumption. Thats a fact. Ask anyone in the financial services sector how that works.

So why can't we just relax and enjoy it? Why can't we just accept the idea that we vote with our wallets every day of the year? We live in a society that is the ultimate expression of he human condition. Our free spending and conspicuous ways are a monument to the true condition of human discourse and social growth. Like everything else "human" we want to deny it and hide it, but when you look around. When you really survey what we have created in America, the operative word is always "we". We are responsible for all this. We made it. We need to realize this and live with it productively or the Eulogy I wrote above will get written, and it will be true.