Romney vs. Gingrich....Gingrich runs a TV ad criticizing Romney and showing people making things, building things and doing things while he talks about free enterprise and the capitalist system. Romney just talks about the right to make money and how wrong it is to criticize the rich. It's funny, the rich love being rich except when it's pointed out to them that they earn more in a day than most people do in a month. Or more. Then they start talking about how none of us understand how hard they actually work and how much they help the country.
There are now two types of capitalism in this country. The first type is the type Gingrich refers to, the old fashioned kind where you start a farm or a small business and work hard to make it grow. The second kind of capitalism - and i don't think it should be called that - is where you sit in offices and meetings and talk on the phone and speculate and invest and consult and watch the money roll in.
Nobody on the left that I know of is against the first kind of capitalism. That's a great thing. Whether you start a sandwich shop or a small factory or a band or design a new piece of software, you set yourself up, you follow your dream, you put in your sweat and labor and you make money. Fine. That's capitalism.
Then there's rich peoples' capitalism, Romney's capitalism. In this type of capitalism you don't DO anything. You don't use your hands, you don't do physical work, you don't sweat. You make deals and you're not the one who makes them. Your 'team' of consultants and advisors and lawyers and accountants make them. You buy up companies that are failing and sell them at a profit. Or companies that are doing well and then run them into the ground. You move money via computer from one account to another account. Your lawyers figure out how to keep your money circulating through your various businesses so that you don't appear to have "earned" anything, technically speaking, so you pay less in taxes than the average working family. You use inside information to invest the money you have and make more money. That's Romney capitalism: a get rich quick scheme where nobody gets dirt under their fingernails, nobody's back hurts at the end of the day, nobody has to get up at 5 a.m. to start a tractor, nobody ever works third shift.
If you are one of those ordinary republicans who works as a truck driver or school teacher or carpenter or small business owner, I have news for you: The Romney style capitalists don't care about you. Not one bit. They have nothing in common with you. They don't go to jail if they get caught doing anything illegal. They don't lose their license to practice. They will never call you up to have lunch with them. They will never ask you to play tennis with them at their weekend house. They don't like ordinary people, that's why they live in communities and houses that are designed to keep YOU out.
These folks exist to make money, nothing more. If their current plan calls for creating jobs in Ohio, they'll do it. Good for Ohio. But they'll take those jobs away just as quickly if they need money to invest in some other project. Bye bye Ohio. That is not capitalism, that is taking advantage of loopholes in the capitalist system to behave like a greedy prick. You never see the CEO of some company or some rich investment banker with a sign that says 'will work for food' do you?
These guys - as exemplified by Romney - are not the hard working Joe and Jane Average who have to go to bed wondering if they'll be able to pay their mortgage. These are not people who will come over to your house and help with yard work. These are people who hire YOU to do their yard work so they can play golf. Remember that when you vote.
When Gingrich talks about capitalism, he's talking about the kind of capitalism where Americans have jobs with American companies or start their own businesses and have some security. When Romney and his ilk talk about capitalism it's a code word for "me and my bank accountant."
There are now two types of capitalism in this country. The first type is the type Gingrich refers to, the old fashioned kind where you start a farm or a small business and work hard to make it grow. The second kind of capitalism - and i don't think it should be called that - is where you sit in offices and meetings and talk on the phone and speculate and invest and consult and watch the money roll in.
Nobody on the left that I know of is against the first kind of capitalism. That's a great thing. Whether you start a sandwich shop or a small factory or a band or design a new piece of software, you set yourself up, you follow your dream, you put in your sweat and labor and you make money. Fine. That's capitalism.
Then there's rich peoples' capitalism, Romney's capitalism. In this type of capitalism you don't DO anything. You don't use your hands, you don't do physical work, you don't sweat. You make deals and you're not the one who makes them. Your 'team' of consultants and advisors and lawyers and accountants make them. You buy up companies that are failing and sell them at a profit. Or companies that are doing well and then run them into the ground. You move money via computer from one account to another account. Your lawyers figure out how to keep your money circulating through your various businesses so that you don't appear to have "earned" anything, technically speaking, so you pay less in taxes than the average working family. You use inside information to invest the money you have and make more money. That's Romney capitalism: a get rich quick scheme where nobody gets dirt under their fingernails, nobody's back hurts at the end of the day, nobody has to get up at 5 a.m. to start a tractor, nobody ever works third shift.
If you are one of those ordinary republicans who works as a truck driver or school teacher or carpenter or small business owner, I have news for you: The Romney style capitalists don't care about you. Not one bit. They have nothing in common with you. They don't go to jail if they get caught doing anything illegal. They don't lose their license to practice. They will never call you up to have lunch with them. They will never ask you to play tennis with them at their weekend house. They don't like ordinary people, that's why they live in communities and houses that are designed to keep YOU out.
These folks exist to make money, nothing more. If their current plan calls for creating jobs in Ohio, they'll do it. Good for Ohio. But they'll take those jobs away just as quickly if they need money to invest in some other project. Bye bye Ohio. That is not capitalism, that is taking advantage of loopholes in the capitalist system to behave like a greedy prick. You never see the CEO of some company or some rich investment banker with a sign that says 'will work for food' do you?
These guys - as exemplified by Romney - are not the hard working Joe and Jane Average who have to go to bed wondering if they'll be able to pay their mortgage. These are not people who will come over to your house and help with yard work. These are people who hire YOU to do their yard work so they can play golf. Remember that when you vote.
When Gingrich talks about capitalism, he's talking about the kind of capitalism where Americans have jobs with American companies or start their own businesses and have some security. When Romney and his ilk talk about capitalism it's a code word for "me and my bank accountant."
It's active vs. passive participation in the activity. Active is real hands on work and risk. Passive parasitizes the hard work of others and creates nothing real. I'm speculating that passive is better since you're rewarded for your efforts producing nothing by having to pay no higher than a 15% tax rate.
ReplyDeleteThe second kind of capitalism is called GREED.
ReplyDelete