Capitalism Versus Now

(Photo by Andreas Steidlinger at Scopio)

The largest international contingent at ALBW came from the USA. Anyone in business or politics should pay attention to a topic of conversation I didn’t expect with Americans:

Capitalism isn’t working.

This topic isn’t such a surprise among Britons. Although essentially Tories want what the GOP wants, most of the general population here aims for what Americans would incorrectly call socialism. Brits don’t want all the means of production, distribution and exchange to be nationalized, which is what actual socialism would require. But on the whole Brits do want people in need to be reasonably well supported so that even the worst-off have a decent life.

Most Brits don’t want the poor to be so poor as to be hungry, freezing or homeless. They want health care to be available to everyone. Basics for a decent life.

In the UK, increasing proportions of the people are hungry, cold or homeless. The NHS has been strangled for a decade, and in the pandemic it has been driven to the edge of collapse. Even with news media glossing over as much as it can, more than enough is in the news to make all of this glaringly obvious.

I’ve been hearing Britons peg much of it on capitalism running amok, too unfettered.

But the USA has always been more Darwinian. As soon as safety nets and protections appear, they become subject to relentless attack. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, welfare, housing subsidies, safety regulations, environmental protections… Everything along such lines is a target for destruction. Last week, American news was topped by a major success in the GOP’s dismantling of protective regulations, with a judge’s ruling stripping the CDC of its ability to issue rules to protect public health.

Admittedly ALBW attracted liberal thinkers with a nerdy inclination to study, learn and devote personal resources to making something happen. Not radicals, but liberals. ALBW was not a cross section of society. But Americans are Americans, strongly individualistic.

I kept hearing them say…

Capitalism isn’t working.

Exactly what to do about it has not gelled yet in either of my countries. Sometimes I hear universal basic income discussed. Until the pandemic, I wasn’t sure whether it’s a good idea. As the pandemic set in, it quickly became crystal clear that UBI would have made the socioeconomic disruption less dangerous, less painful, much easier for both individuals and nations to handle. Considering it in the UK or Europe? A bit radical but not a huge mental step to take.

Considering UBI, even advocating it, in the USA? Huge! I was astounded. The USA hasn’t gotten as far as universal access to health care even though that’s standard for the rest of the developed world. Some Americans are also thinking about UBI!

I won’t drag you through all the topics discussed. I see UBI as notable because it requires such a dramatic mental shift for most Americans to even contemplate, yet there it is.

If you are in politics in either of my countries, removing constraints on capitalistic behavior may be popular among your cronies, but it is contrary to what more and more voters want.

If you are in business in either of my countries, the rules of the game are capitalist, but the game may soon change.

Americans are talking about universal basic income. Americans.

You could resist when these were only little currents and eddies in the flow of events, but you can’t hold back a tide.