Is Capitalism Evil?

I've been toying with this idea for months now. Way back about a year or so ago, one of my Christian Leftist newsletters sent a quick blurb about how capitalism is based on lies. At the time I thought it was a pretty wild thought - one that took what I have felt about our society about a mile to the left. But there's always new evidence isn't there?

Here's the premise. For capitalism to be successful, people need to buy stuff. But if people have the basic necessities, why buy more? Well, that's what advertising and marketing is for. To convince you that you need to buy what you don't need. Think about it. I'm sitting in my huge home, with 2 nice cars in the garage, with a wide screen HD TV/dvd/home theater downstairs, on my home computer, surrounded by basses and musical equipment. How much of that do I need? Well, actually none of it. Why did I buy it? Because I "needed" it (well some of it. Some I just wanted). And who creates this need/want in me? The companies who make money by selling it. Am I happy and fulfilled because I have any of it. Not at all. I don't find happiness or fulfillment from the stuff I have. I find it in my love for my wife and family. In my love for music. In doing a good job at work. In having the respect of those I respect. In having God in my life.

But that's not what those companies who sell things tell me. How can they? If that was all there was, who would need to buy all those "necessities" like athletic shoes and iPods? And remember it is not enough just to buy stuff once. We must keep buying year after year. We need a new car, because the old one isn't up-to-date any more. And software keeps needing more/better/faster computers. And computers need peripherals and digital cameras and high speed internet. You NEED to be on the Internet and reading this blog.

What inspired me today to write this was an article that I read, in all places, in Network World, a computer business rag I get at work. You can find the article here: http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2005/101005backspin.html. I haven't seen this movie nor have I read the book. But what he is talking about is that if people acted like corporations do, they'd be labelled psychotic. Think about that. Companies act the way they do because they're crazy. And here's one more thing to think about. A guy on the train heard me ranting one day about how people are, at heart, evil. He said his dad was a psychologist and his theory was that all people's struggles came down to one thing. Their battle with the evil inside them.

So, corporations are psychotic. If we take that theory the next step, one could say they have lost the battle with the evil inside them. Therefore, corporations are evil. And capitalism, which is founded on the premise that corporations are the key to any society, is therefore also evil.

Now I am saying this a little bit tongue-in-cheek. I know societies have tried other paths. Monarchies were never that benevolent. Communism never did help the workers. Socialism always compromised and corrupted. Fascism was all about control and power and collapsed into repression and evildoing.

So what do I advocate? Well, I think the only way we will ever see a society that is not evil is when Jesus returns. The first Christians practiced a shared society where the common good benefitted all. It quickly crumbled as people's own personalities and sins got in the way. But I believe when we are re-formed and re-created in the new world of Jesus Christ, we will find that society that is fair and just and loving.

Until then, we are just a world filled with people who, at the heart, are sinful. And corporations will help magnify and make that sin more efficient. And capitalism will continue to focus on one and only one god - money. And billions will continue to suffer while I sit in my comfortable chair in my warm house with my full stomach typing on my computer.

My heart aches.