Many people today confuse capitalism with corporatism. Folks hear the term capitalism and think about evil things like poor children, mass corruption, a weakening middle class, greedy rich people…you know the deal. You might even think that way yourself. But today we’re going to clear the smoke on all of that. You need to know the difference so that no matter what side of the political spectrum you agree with, you can present your ideas correctly. First, let’s get down to the real meaning of capitalism.

Capitalism is a social and economic system that recognizes individual rights. This includes the right to own properties and goods for personal use. Individuals, or groups of individuals, are the key players in a capitalistic society. Everyone has equal opportunity to succeed and work hard, therefore the harder you work the more you have. Sounds great right? That’s because it is, and what neocon Republicans are pushing today is actually not true capitalism, but corporatism. Critics of capitalism despise it’s root ethic (self-interest) and demonize it by saying it harms social prosperity. This is simply not true. In an environment where the harder you work the more you have, excellence is the result. You have people working, trying, and succeeding only to work harder because of the rewards. The people who do not want to work, try, or succeed won’t, and thus humanity eventually evolves towards a race that works, tries, and succeeds. It’s simple to understand really. Capitalism breeds work ethic, perseverance, dedication, etc. All good things that critics simply don’t understand.

Corporatism is a social and economic system that intends to acheieve social justice without taking away private property and possessions. The key here is that corporatism is the merger of business and government. Often times corporations will lobby to politicians for laws in their favor, and in turn the government has their hands in said corporations and sets regulations that are beneficial to them. A great example would include companies like Goldman Sachs, who donated substantial amounts of money to both President Barack Obama and hopeful Mitt Romney. Corporatism leans in favor towards the government and big corporations and leans away from the people. It’s kind of like the second cousin to socialism, because corporatism allows private businesses to operate under limits while prioritizing major projects of the state. The government justifies creation of public ventures. They claim that there are no takers of certain projects that are essential to the people from the private sector because the projects are huge and require a large amount of investment that the businessmen cannot afford. The problem here is that in a true capitalist society, the businessmen would be able to afford them, and there would be no need for such government intervention.

Capitalism is individualist, corporatism is collectivist. Most critics and liberals today will tell you that they loathe capitalism without understanding the true meaning. They actually (most of the time) mean corporatism, which as a collectivist method makes them contradict themselves. Capitalists believe in choice, free markets and competition. Corporatists believe in the exact opposite.

Think about it. Politicians are very easy and cheap to buy. So why would a corporation not give them money so that laws can be passed in their favor, so that they make more money while the middle class shrinks? Republicans and Democrats both gobble up the opportunities, not thinking twice about the actual laws they are passing. It’s a huge problem and I think the only way to correct it is for people who truly understand things like capitalism to run for office.

The nature of man is generally not to work as hard as you can and take as little as you need. The nature of man is most often times to work as less as possible while taking as much as possible. Capitalism creates an environment that tries to spin the negative ways of man to positive. Work hard and you’ll be rewarded. Try to succeed and you will. THAT is American. Giving in to corporatism and socialistic type societies only breeds laziness and the negative nature of man. Surely this is something we can all agree on? Bettering our lazy human nature? That’s the way I prefer to think. Join me!