My final interviewee is MS, a 22-year old junior here at UMW. He comes from a white, middle-class family, and lives in Centreville, Virginia.
How would you define capitalism?
“A political and economic system based on privately owned companies, a privately managed economy. ”
What is your personal experience with capitalism?
“Economically, I’ve been pretty lucky, I was born into a middle-class family with a fair amount of wealth. So for most of my life, we’ve never wanted for money. This changed recently when my mom lost her job and went on disability. I think that’s a good example of how, in capitalism, when people become useless, they fall down the ladder and are left by the wayside. When people’s merits are equal to their work though, they rise up the ladder quickly; my mom started as a copier at this company, and became corporate manager before her disability.”
What are some alternative systems to capitalism?
“Well, there’s communism, which is ideal in theory. But people always want power, and a communist system doesn’t change that. People can’t always be treated as the same, because they don’t want to, some people want to climb to the top. People compete for their place in society. Socialism, which is a less idealistic version of the same thing, is kind of getting a good reputation in parts of Europe now, to an extent. But I don’t think it would work in the current American society, because people here go crazy whenever anything even resembling socialism is brought up, and use socialism as an insult. There’s also mercantilism.”
Can you describe mercantilism?
“Oh, yeah. I’m not too sure of the details, but basically the country was in control of its own finances, it focused on trade, and the companies were run by the country for their own interest. It worked for big empires that traded mostly within their own territory, like Britain.”
So it was like a state version of capitalism, then?
“Yeah, pretty much.”
How has capitalism influenced America?
“It’s had an absolutely major effect. We basically ended creating a global, interconnected economic system that incorporates the finances of all countries. This kind of harkens back to the robber barons of the Gilded Age.”
So you see capitalism as something of an American creation, then?
“No, but we took it to a whole new level, the logical extreme with our corporations, which have become super-conglomerates with global influence and interests. But no, we weren’t the first to practice capitalism.”
What do you think are capitalism’s origins, either globally or in the United States?
“I think people wanted to escape from a feudal sort of system, where they did not control their own financial destinies. I think it particularly arises after the Enlightenment period, and starts as a working philosophy after that.”
So in reference to the feudalism, do you think there’s a move towards capitalism beginning after the Middle Ages?
“Yeah, it takes a long time to get to what we today recognize as capitalism, but I think that’s sort of where it begins.”
When is capitalism first articulated as any kind of coherent system or ideology?
“I have to say that I don’t know here.”
How do you think social issues have been affected by capitalism?
“I think they’re totally entwined. Like, today, social agendas are pushed by private companies, and large corporations use their money and influence to push their agendas in the government. People don’t really like corporations, and they also don’t like it when colleges act like businesses and it costs loads of money to go to college, we’re the only country that does it like that. Today, people are angry with capitalism, and they’re sort of held down by a glass ceiling between them and the tiny super-elite class. Capitalism was good for society a couple of hundred years ago probably, but today, society is controlled by a small elite via capitalism. I’d prefer a meritocracy”
You’re talking about the One Percent, basically?
“Yeah.”
Do you think capitalism is not meritocratic?
“Not anymore. Now it’s mostly a small elite who pass on their wealth to their children, and you get to the top through influence and connections instead of, well, merit. Instead of leaving your fortune to your children, I think a more productive way of thinking is what you leave behind to humanity.”
Has capitalism changed over time?
“It has definitely changed over time. It started as a hopeful sort of ideology, with people controlling their own financial destinies. Now, people are constrained by and have to worry about things like fluctuating job markets, deciding early on in life what career field to specialize in, and those sort of concerns drive their lives. Capitalism in its modern form has created a society that’s perpetually in debt, with the capitalization of education. Eventually, this sort of thing will lead to the glass ceiling between people and the upper class breaking.”
Do you see that as a bad thing?
“No, but it would disrupt the social order.”
Do you think capitalism is a natural fit for human nature?
“Yeah, I think it does pretty much fit with a sort of free will ideology, which is something that even people like religions and secularists usually agree on. But it’s flawed in that it leads to the accumulation of wealth by the most successful, and wealth grants power, and too much power subverts free will. Capitalism is flawe, but it does fit certain aspects of human nature. So do other systems though, so capitalism doesn’t necessarily fit more than those.”
How has capitalism been taught to you during your education?
“I did not receive enough education about capitalism, frankly. People in general aren’t educated enough about capitalism as a system, which is kind of why I was drawing blanks on a couple of your questions. Capitalism as a system or philosophy is sort of hyper-specialized into the business field and classes, I think people in general need a more well-rounded, Renaissance sort of education that includes capitalism.”
