Is the Free-Market Really About Freedom?

“Advocates of capitalism are very apt to appeal to the sacred principles of liberty, which are embodied in one maxim: The fortunate must not be restrained in the exercise of tyranny over the unfortunate.” ~Bertrand Russell 

          Capitalism is defined as an economic and political system characterized by a free market for goods and services, and private control of production and consumption (1). It has long been believed that the Capitalist system is the key to reaching the “American Dream.” For many years, it even seemed to work. Americans thrived in a nation where a little hard work kept families safe, happy, and healthy. Over the past 3 decades, however, this dream has become nearly impossible to reach. America’s free-market obsession has led to severe inequality between the rich and the other 98 percent of American people.

          One way the free-market has caused such inequality is with new legislation that favors the wealthy over the average worker. During the reign of George W. Bush, massive tax cuts were given to the richest Americans, placing most of the tax burden on the poor and middle-class. To the dismay of all but the elite, these cuts still exist and still cause massive damage to households and small businesses all across the nation. In 2010, almost immediately after the House of Representatives swore in its new freshmen Republican majority, the Citizens United ruling was passed. This bill gave corporations “personhood” status, meaning they could now filter an unregulated amount of funds into elections, which basically stripped power from voters.

          Inequality in this free-market society is also being fueled as Wall Street threatens to obliterate the rights of Americans with the faulty promise of “individual liberty” in order to control society’s assets. Corporate recruiters have become a virus in colleges. They show up to aggressively snatch the youth right out of high school and undergraduate programs. This keeps the gifted out of crucial progressive careers such as research, technology, manufacturing, and education. Instead, these talented recruits are stuck creating and calculating insane derivatives that make absolutely no sense, but are extraordinary tools to make a profit off the economy’s collapse.

          The Wall Street Bailout of 2008 was most assuredly the greatest driving force toward the extreme inequality that now cripples American society. Banks were about to fail and the market was on the brink of collapse, so they begged and pleaded for the government to provide aid, and they got what they wanted. Hundreds of billions of taxpayer-funded assistance went directly to the wealthiest banks and corporations in the form of bonuses and raises. Americans still do not know where a large chunk of those funds ended up, except that they were not used in the manner they were supposed to be. Consequently, this has led America to literally become the country where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.                  In short, America has drifted far from the “Land of Opportunity” that was once promised to all. Hard workers can no longer afford to be comfortable while the wealthy continue to claim all that has value. Now is the time to rise up and make a stand. Use Facebook and Twitter to spread the news and reveal the lies. Occupation of Wall Street has now lasted nearly a month, and continues to spread across the globe. Anyone who struggles has an obligation to be a part of the Revolution that is now underway.

Sources

(1) "capitalism." The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005. 05 Oct. 2011. <Dictionary.comhttp://dictionary.reference.com/browse/capitalism>.

Let Me Be Me

 “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”  ~George Bernard Shaw

            “Go to your desk, put your head down, and think about why I sent you there,” barked Mrs. Goartz, my kindergarten teacher. I was a timid child and had just refused to count my classmates so everyone could hear me. I was afraid and didn’t believe that my teacher’s demands were worth the embarrassment I would feel.

            “Jessica is never going to make it anywhere in life if she doesn’t come out of her shell,” grumbled Mrs. Goartz in a meeting she arranged with my mother.

            “She’s only 5. How far out of her shell can we possibly expect her to be?” my mother questioned before she spewed a few choice words in frustration and hastily stormed out of the classroom. From then on, I began to succumb fully to authority, as I let my identity fade into the depths of my existence.

            As a child, I knew precisely what dreams I wanted to pursue, and that I did not quite fit in with the “norm” of society. I desired a life as an archaeologist and astronomer, unaware of how tedious and trying the journey would be. I have always strongly believed that all of life’s mysteries can be solved by digging in the earth, observing the heavens, learning of foreign cultures, and discovering the connections between all these extraordinary sciences.  To most of the people around me, I was just a dreamer who would eventually awaken to the reality of the cruel world we dwell in as puppets and slaves.

            Entering into adolescence, my priority was to be admired by my peers. I buried my dreams in the darkest corridors of my mind. My grades began to plummet from straight A’s to C’s and D’s. I did not even enjoy science anymore. Though I avoided leaping onto the bandwagon of drugs and skipping school, my nonchalant attitude was creating a disaster of distrust from my parents and teachers. I began to realize the stress I was causing, and decided to become more obedient. Consequently, I failed to create my own ideas and instead submitted to others.

            At age 14, I attended a play performed by a local community church titled “Heaven’s Gates, Hell’s Flames.” It repeated the idea that if I did not invite Jesus into my heart, I would suffer eternal hell-fire, which frightened me. From that evening forward, the church consumed every detail of me. My mother would punish me if I did not attend worship or read my Bible daily. I devoured every word spoken by elders of the church like ambrosia from the gods. Thankfully, I snapped back into reality before permanent damage was done.

            For over two decades, I have fought tirelessly with society and with my inner self to find my true identity. My mind has changed thousands of times about every decision I have made, mostly as a result of considering others’ opinions. The company I surround myself with daily are incessantly discouraging my ideas as folly, as I prefer to live a simple, yet rewarding life. According to them, I should focus on financial security, not my ridiculous pipe-dreams of becoming an artist, musician, scientist, veterinarian, forensics expert, or whatever would become my next “calling.”

It wasn’t until this past year that I began focusing on my own personal thoughts, rather than the advice spouted by those who “only want the best” for me. I recently learned that in order to discover my identity, I must first stop blindly following in others’ shadows. This decision has been liberating, and I am now chasing my passions with open arms, not allowing a soul to block my path.