Capitalism is Broken
November 17, 2011 in Finance
Today was a historic day for the Occupy Movement. Mainstream media coverage reached an all-time high. The protests continue and the attention is growing. As I said in this morning’s article, Resistance Only Makes It Stronger.
What is the peaceful response?
Since the protests are, on the surface, about the equal distribution of wealth, this article looks at a possible financial solution.
The equal distribution of wealth is often called socialism.
This ideology has its problems. The most commonly cited problem with socialism is that “you eventually run out of other people’s money.”
On the other side of this issue is capitalism. This term is usually tied to corporate greed. Capitalism is a target of the protestors.
Therefore, people who know me are surprised that I spend so much time writing about the Occupy Movement.
I have practiced, lived, and taught my version of capitalism since the late 1990s. I believe that each person has the right and opportunity to create wealth through an energy exchange. I put energy into a situation. I receive energy in return.
The energy I put into a situation is my capital investment. (Yes, this is why I call it “capitalism.”) I’ve used money, my expertise, my knowledge, and my time as capital for real estate, business ideas, and other people’s dreams.
I receive energy in return for my capital investment. Sometimes I receive money. Sometimes, the energy comes in another form.
I’ve heard this exchange called wages, karma, return on investment, and trade.
This is the basic idea behind capitalism. Any person can create his or her wealth through this system of exchange.
If anyone can do this, then why are there protests in the street against this system? Why am I writing about those protests since I’m a proponent of this version of capitalism?
I write about the Occupy Movement because, quite frankly, capitalism is broken.
This doesn’t mean the energy exchange doesn’t work anymore. It is still possible to create wealth and earn a living through a fair exchange of energy.
When I say capitalism is broken, I mean that, like the computer owner who keeps losing his documents and thinks his computer is broken, we don’t know how to use the system.
We think it is broken because we have run out of other people’s money.
HUH?
Isn’t that the problem with socialism?
Yes, it is.
May I suggest that the system we call capitalism is actually socialism?
We have asked government to take care of healthcare, retirement, food, livelihood, utilities, and housing.
As a result, the money ends up in the hands of those who claim to provide all of this. Those people believe they have to control the distribution of wealth so they grab an inordinate amount of it.
Capitalism, as it is practiced today, has run out of other’s people money.
In addition, the wealth is not being distributed fairly within the system.
Of course, the equal distribution of wealth was never the intended design of capitalism. It is the design of socialism.
The design of capitalism is the equal exchange of energy.
Distribution assumes that a small group of people control a large part of the resources. That is the situation we have today. We have created socialism and called it capitalism.
It is time to change this. Capitalism works when it isn’t treated as socialism. Capitalism works when each person contributes to the flow of energy going in and out. Capitalism works when we walk in love.
We must understand this and live it.
Until we do, the protests will continue.
