“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
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The first step toward tempering capitalism to create a more balanced society is to truly try to live by the words that open up the Declaration of Independence, which was written with a capitalist economy in mind. It is fine to pursue love, luxury, or whatever else we define as happiness, but often in our single-mindedness to realize these dreams, we trample on the lives of others. Take for example the article about the Inuit and how pollution has changed their lifestyle and affected their health: even though the pollution emitted by the
The way toward tempering capitalism is twofold. The first is to acknowledge that all humans—male or female, of whatever ethnicity, sexuality, or religion, no matter whether poor or rich, American or not—have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The second step is to honestly assess the effects of our actions and excesses and be willing to change them when they begin interfering with the lives, liberty, and happiness of other human beings.
The second step requires a certain amount of restraint and generosity that do not have to be considered foreign to capitalism. A living can be made without having to impoverish others; the desire for extremes is what blinds the soul and convinces people that they cannot be happy without sacrificing the rights of others. Often, governments step in and try to place rules that temper the inequalities that we associate with capitalism; the very next sentence of the Declaration of Independence declares that governments are formed to protect humanity's essential rights. Yet history has demonstrated time and time again that a government is only as just as the people who run it. If the power structure falls into the hands of those interested only in furthering their own aims, then it too becomes a tool that deprives people of their rights.
1 comment:
I thought this was a great blog post. It was very successful at reminding me of the benefits to a capitalist economic system. I was reminded of the reason why we live in a capitalist society; capitalism protects our unalienable right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Most of the time I appear particularly jaded against capitalism, and for good reason. The history of capitalism is not all protecting the right to happiness for many people. Capitalism has been one of the primary causes for inequality in the last few centuries. The examples of this inequality range from the maltreatment of Africans in the American South’s cotton industry to the exploitation of Latin and South America for cheap labor today.
As Saranya wrote, however, capitalism may not be inherently a harmful system; it just needs to be “tempered.” The change that is necessary is that we must keep the life, liberty, and happiness of others in mind as we pursue our own goals. Furthermore, we must be willing at time to compromise our own happiness if it is excessive and damaging to other individuals. Capitalism is often personified as a cutthroat system, however, it could be more successful if we softened this persona to be more compassionate for all people.
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