Before I read Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism and Matt Taibbi's Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America (I'm 2/3 of the way through this book), I already understood that capitalism was an amoral system. It is all about the accumulation of short-term profit and political power that pays no heed to the needs or value of the community and/or the people and planet contained within such.
When I saw problems in this country or in other places throughout the world, while I might be upset by the actions or words of particular capitalists, I viewed the problem as systemic, in nature. Put another way, the system itself pushed capitalists to act or speak in certain ways. By adopting this perspective, I often let such capitalists off the hook, in a manner of speaking.
But via the well-documented and well-written works of Klein and Taibbi, I have come to see that letting many of these people off the hook has been an error. While my original thesis of the systemic problems inherent in capitalism has not abated, I have found it equally true that many of capitalism's biggest proponents are immoral SOBs!!
What they have done is to take an amoral system to utilize as a weapon for their own immoral machinations. They manipulate things behind the scenes to feed myopic lusts for egregious wealth, influence and power. They knowingly deceive and manipulate the broad masses to consolidate and increase what they already possess.
They throw millions into abject poverty in order to increase their profit margins by a few percentage points and feel no guilt nor shame for their actions. Not only do they not feel ANY pangs of conscience, they brag about their exploits in the shuttered boardrooms and vacation villas that dot the globe.
In a word, these people are monsters -- just as fearsome as the mythic dragons of old. They swallow up whole communities and then spit them out without even bothering to floss or rinse their palates!!
Before reading Klein and Taibbi's books, I was an unapologetic socialist. As I wind down near the end of Taibbi's book and before starting another one by Joshua Holland, I am now an even fiercer critic of the capitalist system. While socialism, in its present incarnation may not be best system either, I view it as a needed step toward a system that places greater emphasis on morality and ethics.
When I saw problems in this country or in other places throughout the world, while I might be upset by the actions or words of particular capitalists, I viewed the problem as systemic, in nature. Put another way, the system itself pushed capitalists to act or speak in certain ways. By adopting this perspective, I often let such capitalists off the hook, in a manner of speaking.
But via the well-documented and well-written works of Klein and Taibbi, I have come to see that letting many of these people off the hook has been an error. While my original thesis of the systemic problems inherent in capitalism has not abated, I have found it equally true that many of capitalism's biggest proponents are immoral SOBs!!
What they have done is to take an amoral system to utilize as a weapon for their own immoral machinations. They manipulate things behind the scenes to feed myopic lusts for egregious wealth, influence and power. They knowingly deceive and manipulate the broad masses to consolidate and increase what they already possess.
They throw millions into abject poverty in order to increase their profit margins by a few percentage points and feel no guilt nor shame for their actions. Not only do they not feel ANY pangs of conscience, they brag about their exploits in the shuttered boardrooms and vacation villas that dot the globe.
In a word, these people are monsters -- just as fearsome as the mythic dragons of old. They swallow up whole communities and then spit them out without even bothering to floss or rinse their palates!!
Before reading Klein and Taibbi's books, I was an unapologetic socialist. As I wind down near the end of Taibbi's book and before starting another one by Joshua Holland, I am now an even fiercer critic of the capitalist system. While socialism, in its present incarnation may not be best system either, I view it as a needed step toward a system that places greater emphasis on morality and ethics.
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