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Taking the Plank Out of Our Own Eye
Rod Dreher, author of the much talked about Crunchy Cons, wrote an article provocatively entitled Evils of Capitalism in the Dallas Morning News that nails it. Dreher writes,
...[W]e can't pretend that our prosperity does not present us with serious civic problems. Consumer capitalism contains within its unfolding dynamic the seeds of its own destruction, to say nothing of the way it chews up traditional loyalties to faith, family, community and place.
We don't talk about this much in American politics, especially not on the right, where we've been supposedly waging a culture war for the traditional values cause for some time now. But we're starting to: The American Conservative, which excerpted Mr. Barber's book as a recent cover story, is fast becoming the most interesting political magazine on the right because it recognizes a simple but radical truth: When it comes to defending the things traditional conservatives cherish, big business is as much a threat as big government.
...and this is the plank that conservatives concerned about the moral/cultural health of the country need to take out of our own eye. It's simple to pick splinters out of the eyes of those godless liberals and big government coddlers, but in the end, we need to begin to look at how we have participated and promoted a political/economic agenda i.e., unfettered capitalism, that is as much or more responsible for the deterioration of traditional values and a decline in civility as anything else.
3 comments:
When that dude with the S&L bailout money (our taxes) bought a family owned lumber business in Scotia, CA and started running it 24-7, this labor organizer (branded also as an "environmentalist") started talking to the workers. "Look, he doesn't care about you or your families or this town. Heck, the hill and some of your houses just washed into the river. Quit bitching about tree huggers and DUMP THE BOSSES OFF YOUR BACK."
They blew up her car with her in it.
The author makes several great points in his article, however I'm not sure I agree with the last statement - "...big business is as much as a threat as big government."
The childish impulses of buy, buy, buy, now, now, now are absolutely the cause of the current econmic condition, but I don't neccessarily blame big business for this. Big business is easy to blame as they are the beneficiaries of this so called trend of consumer capiltalism, but I don't believe they are the root of the problem. It's somewhat of a cop-out to continually point our fingers at big business and whine that they are the cause of our problem, they're just simply cashing in on the fact that a large portion of consumers today have a lack of self control and desire to impress people they don't know with things they can't afford. Is it their job to say, "stop, please don't buy our product, it's really not in your best financial interest right now." Who are they to make that determination, isn't that each of our own jobs to do? Isn't that the parent's job to teach their children, isn't that the public education system's job to teach our students? (that one may be stretching a little)
I do disagree with the deceptive methods of the credit industry positioning themselves everywhere they can, but they are sucessful because consumers "buy" their product. The simpler answer is to quit using them. Ask almost anyone and they'll tell you credit card debt is not a good thing, yet almost all of those same people will carry a balance! Use some common sense, have some will power, you'll enjoy those things you buy that much more if you actually OWN them.
"Consumer capitalism contains within its unfolding dynamic the seeds of its own destruction, to say nothing of the way it chews up traditional loyalties to faith, family, community and place." The author pretty much sums it up with this statement - let's point the finger at the buyer, not the seller. Fix the buyer's problem and the seller will follow suit.
I think the qualifier here is "consumer" capitalism. Although Sarge I agree with you that ultimately it is up to the individual in a capitalist/decomcratic society to be responsible, we can't overlook what influences society. Both big government and big business have enormous influence on how we behave - othewise how do we explain the shift that's taken place where credit card debt is considered normal, where loyalty to place takes a backseat to where we can make the most money, or where in tough times, and without shame, a president can say "go spend, our country depends on you."
The "root problem" will always be the human capacity of a large segement of the population to sink to the lowest commond denominator if given the opportunity, and those willing to take advantage of that capacity. What I think people like Dreher are talking about is the responsibility on the part of those people who have a sound upbringing, an abundance of resources (i.e. the ability to influence society), and the education to make society a place where it's easy to act responsible.
Also, I agree with you that we need to do a better job of educating the individual about the pitfalls of consumer capitalism a la Dave Ramsey. However, I think one of the main thrusts of Dreher's article is to merely say, that conservatives, who are concerned about the moral health of the nation, also need to take into consideration how capitalism - usually considered a sacred cow among political conservatives - plays an influencial part in shaping our views and behaviors.
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