Welcome to a country that is legendary for the freedoms it offers, which are unparalleled in the subjects of religion, opportunity, and-- oddly more important to most-- economically. The United States has drawn people from all corners of the world, based on the possibility that they have the ability to drastically improve their lives. This covetable freedom of opportunity was far more appealing to immigrants than the unalterable and almost always mediocre courses of life that are destined to a person in almost every single other country. Instead, America boasts a world where any person can jump between economic classes that are almost caste-like in most other areas of the world. Whether known as laissez faire or free market, this ability to change economic status of one's life, with enough intelligence and hard work, is the creator of the American Dream. But, for the status quo of the country, is Capitalism the best option for the United States? Is it beneficial to the 52.5% of Americans who spend some point of their life below the poverty line? Does the Free Market economy bear fruit for the 9.6% that are unemployed or just the top 1% of the population that contains 70% of the wealth (according to the New York Times)?And furthermore, does the drastic separation of quality of life between classes, and the concentration of power and capital resources in the hands of the few determine that maybe Americans would be better off with a different economic system?
The concept of capitalism, or as it is applied to the United States, the economic system in which all flow of money is simply dictated by laws of the market (primarily "supply and demand"), not regulated by the government...originated from Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations", a century before the creation of this country. However, the USA is the only country in the world that exemplifies a legitimate form of capitalism.
Many refer to the recent Economic intervention to save the American economy by President Barack Obama's administration, to be socialism. I disagree that in comparison to other countries, the United States is no longer capitalist. On the contrary, the economy is still very much unregulated. But structure changes in the government are arguably headed toward a far different status. While it still possible for any American to make as much money as possible, the government is growing, and the source of most government funds is tax on the upper class. More and more, our government draws from the highest income earners to support the lower classes. Should the economic plight of all classes be intertwined? I think not. I think that in a society where hard work is encouraged and risk taking can have good and bad consequences, that those who end up on the wrong side of the equation should not be supported or bailed out. Instead, they should have the exact same chances of as any other person, because if there is a safety net for the less fortunate, the drive to succeed and attain the American Dream will no longer exist.
It is not to say that those who control large amounts of money should not be charitable towards others. Arguably, many of the hundreds of millions of dollars (and billions in some cases) simply are too much to spend for their owners, and would be better in the hands of somebody who really needs capital resources to survive. However, such decisions should be in the hands of the people, not a controlling government.
It seems that the fate of capitalism in the United States is not certain, because although Americans continue to become more prosperous than the citizens of any other land, they are losing the economic freedoms that were once shared by the beneficiaries of true capitalism.
-Jacob Menick
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B06E5DA153EE033A25755C0A9679C946697D6CF
http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/wealthofnations/archive/2009/04/13/the-rise-of-red-shirt-capitalism.aspx
http://www.google.com/publicdata?ds=usunemployment&met=unemployment_rate&tdim=true&q=unemployment+rate
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