The titans of commerce have made capitalism an ideology instead of a tool. As such its inhumanity and barbaric intrinsic nature are on full display for those who choose to see it. Adherence to this economic system requires an uncanny ability to make excuses for the reality that very few Americans have partaken of the country’s growing wealth.
Many people point out that under our economic system we built great skyscrapers, monuments, and more. One must ask, what percentage of the population can take advantage or partake of the spoils. Most buildings, structures, and the like are off-limits for the vast majority of Americans, yet we praise their existence as some collective accomplishment. They are not. Like slaves, one builds them for the benefit of a few as others are generally allowed entry just to serve. And that is the better side for most.
One must not forget the likes of the Toys “R” Us saga. Its demise can be directly attributed to vultures that shuffled a few papers to extract capital from the company in exchange for saddled debt. 30,000 unemployed American citizens were the waste, the byproduct of a few amassing an inordinate amount of wealth from the transaction; humanity irrelevant.
Elon Musk’s recent tweet showed the ease with which, in his case, Tesla stock, but in the aggregate, the entire economic system can be compromised and/or manipulated It is clear the emperor has no clothes.
Elon Musk’s one tweet shows market fragility
Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 7, 2018
Elon Musk’s tweet and the resulting financial results should dispel any notion that the stock market is anything but a legalized gambling platform. Nothing changed at the company to justify the change in the value of the stock assuming it was based on anything other than a whim. Yet a tweet lost a lot of wealth for many as it made a lot for others. That is the definition of gambling, losing or winning cash without producing anything.
Many vultures shorted Tesla stock. Elon Musk one tweet cost them $1.3 billion in just a few hours. These guys produce nothing as they make millions on the service and innovation of others. Elon Musk turned the table on them yesterday as he pulled the rug from under them. Many think it is a bluff. But if it is not, the vultures would have justifiably lost their shirt as the price of the stock approaches the supposed purchase price to take Tesla private.
Tesla has the type of problems any innovative cutting-edge company has and as such should not be judged on a quarter by quarter basis. Of course, don’t tell that to the titans of finance who scrutinize the company ad nauseam. When companies enter a stage where the stock price may fall because of market forces or investor shortsightedness financial vultures would enter and short the stock. Shorting a stock is an evil technique to profit when a stock falls in price.
Most financial companies make money not by investing in companies for the sole purpose of making money from the success of their products and services but for merely moving paper and money around. Their investments produce nothing useful for society. They generate money off of the backs of others having formed companies, others who have created products and services. I fail to see how this is substantially different from welfare recipients. Maybe welfare recipients should put on suits and ties as they use the system to get something for nothing. Oops — corporate welfare recipients already do that and it works. Working class welfare recipients: Are you listening?
To be clear, most citizens on welfare are there because we do not have an economic system that rewards the real value of work. We reward capital more so than human labor. In other words, those with capital profit more than those who actually do the job to maintain that capital. But our indoctrination has taught us that those with capital are more valuable to society. Put a farmer on a deserted island alongside a stockbroker. If each is left to their own device, who do you think would survive? Who is more valuable? The one with capital or the one who can produce something?
It is said that capitalism affords the efficient allocation of resources. That may be the case in theory. The reality is it has failed to do that as it has allocated resources to the lease deserving internally. For the economic system in the aggregate, it has allocated them stupidly. Why are we burning fossil fuels when the technology exists to go green en masse? Why are the most valuable workers who produce paid less than paper pushers? One could go on and on.
Only when Americans understand the corrosive nature of the internals of our economy, will they force a change. When they realize that the economic system isn’t divine, but human-made will they engage to change the parameters to fix it in a manner that gives all equal access to success.