Wait for It… “It’s Capitalism’s Fault!”

I use scare quotes because so few clearly define what “capitalism” is, and fewer still know how it works. Particularly when they use the F word.

As with neoliberalism, “capitalism” is more or less a smear used by those who hate that which they neither understand nor have a hand in creating. Ignorance as a rhetorical strategy works mainly because the masses have become more credulous and ignorant with each passing year. Critics simply have to indicate some socio-economic phenomenon they don’t like and blame the c-word. …

Now, the best we can say is interventionism creates ideal conditions under which corporations and authorities may collude. And boy they do. The extent to which entrepreneurs ally with government officials is the extent to which the system becomes less capitalist, less liberal, and more corrupted by degree.

But what beast does this corruption spawn?

Intervention gives rise to either cronyism or fascism. The difference between cronyism and fascism lies only in the authorities’ objectives. Cronyism is designed to shore up the incumbency of individual politicians. Fascism is more about directing the interests of corporations to authority’s ends on behalf of the so-called national interest, and cronies benefit anyway.