I'm not a socialist but...

By David Tizzard

History is about the most cruel of all goddesses, and she leads her triumphal car over heaps of corpses, not only in war, but also in “peaceful” economic development. And we men and women are unfortunately so stupid that we never pluck up courage for real progress unless urged to it by sufferings that seem almost out of proportion.

The purple passage above is from Friedrich Engel's personal correspondences. It reaffirms the notion that we are born into a society without our permission asked and, unless you're a fan of Camus or Dostoevsky, no chance of a refund.

But here we are. And now we seem to be living in History ― and I use the capital H with some trepidation ― are we not being presented every day with stories of suffering that demand we rethink our economic system?

As the title suggests, I am no closet socialist.

I have been through many political and economic doctrines and found different heroes at different stages of my academic career. But this is not about a fanciful ideology or bar-room musings where we can stroke our beards and wax theoretical about things.

This concerns the stark reality that has been thrust into our faces ― that those in society on whom we so desperately rely are constantly undervalued and shunned: the nurses, the emergency workers, the couriers and delivery people, the food workers, the cashiers, the warehouse stockers, the mothers, the fathers and the grandparents.

As everyone else is sent home, it is these people who have had to brave the most trying of conditions. They are “essential” members of a functioning society.

But Washington devises a $1 trillion package of grants, unsecured loans, and tax breaks for whom? Airlines, cruise lines and other highly leveraged companies.

These businesses and industries chose to build up their stock prices rather than manage their companies in a responsible manner and ensure that they were prepared for any unforeseen circumstances.

Executives from these companies paid themselves 10s and 100s of millions of dollars. And now that the companies are struggling because all the money has lined pockets rather than being invested, the people, the taxpayers, the cashiers and nurses, are being asked to bail them out.

That is just socialism for the rich. And it does not make sense.

This is the chance to let things go their natural way. We do not need to bail out millionaires and billionaires. We need to give different people the opportunity to rise.

Surely seeing three presidential candidates all in their 70s, botoxed and oranged-up, was a clear enough sign?

We continue to rectify a situation that produces growing inequalities. Should we not try to reevaluate who the real winners and losers are in our societies?

We could be using this opportunity to make a transition to a new economy ― a post-fossil fuel society. We could be looking at creating visions of long-term stability and shared prosperity.

But as yet, we are not. And it is perhaps because the people in charge simply do not want to.

We have seen U.S. senators and their aides profiting from the confusion: “taking” money while those they are supposed to serve suffer under bad government and information.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill from both political parties were receiving classified briefings about the coronavirus in January and February. They knew of the incoming dangers to the country, yet they told everyone to remain calm and that nothing would happen.

They then used that opportunity to manage their stock portfolios: selling all their stocks in airlines and cruises and reinvesting them in biotech companies focusing on developing vaccines for the disease.

These lawmakers, charged with serving the people, saw an upcoming social and economic crisis and they thought, “I can get rich here.”

Why is there not more moral outrage about this? And why are we letting the people who have committed such heinous acts then pass the laws that allow the aforementioned luxury companies to receive billion or trillion dollar bailouts? Bailouts that will be paid for by hardworking taxpayers.

It is socialism for the rich ― some animals seemingly being more equal than others.

Of course, I do not buy into the idea that all the rich are barbarous and thus the poor are morally more virtuous. Simplistic generalizations never hold-up.

And there is often a false dichotomy presented in that capitalism supposedly results in some people being unhappy while its economic counterpart results in nobody being happy.

What we do need to consider, however, is making sure the rules of the game are not continually fixed in favor of those seemingly least deserving.

Edmund Burke suggested that it was not within the competence of the government or even of the rich to supply to the poor those necessaries that the Divine Providence has been pleased to withhold for a while.

But let us cast aside, for now, questions of Divine Providence and deus ex machina of invisible hands and cunnings of reason.

Let us look at the world around us.

There are thousands of stories that demonstrate why the global economy and America's capitalist system are failing those who need it most. Moreover, people are profiting from this failure.

We can choose to ignore this. We can choose to deny this. We can choose to be angered by this.

But above all, would it not be better for us to start thinking about reshaping the global economy? Can we not think up options that present better alternatives for long-term sustainability? That reward those on whom society truly relies? That has rules in place so that those who behave unjustly are not instantly bailed out by those from whom they have profited?

I am not a socialist, and I do not have any grand plans or utopian visions, but surely we can start thinking about it together. I mean while we are all stuck at home looking at dog videos on the internet.

David Tizzard (datizzard@swu.ac.kr) is an assistant professor at Seoul Women's University and lectures in politics and history and Hanyang University. He presents economic and cultural issues on "Business Now" on TBS eFM (101.3FM) live every Wednesday from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.