Socialism for the rich & capitalism for the rest of us.

 

I think it's true to say the capitalists like Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk don't get rich by running benevolent societies. The source of their wealth is the exploitation of people's labour and labour, as Adam Smith tells us, is the source of all wealth.

You can't defend capitalism on the grounds that it's natural. In the history of man, capitalism, is a fairly recent phenomenon. In Britain, the era of modern capitalism, is associated with the industrial revolution which began in the late 18th century.

The free-marketeers decry 'big government' and yet big business, benefits hugely from taxpayer subsidies and bailouts. We saw that with the COVID pandemic and with the sub-prime mortgage crisis in 2008. Financial institutions almost brought down the global financial capitalist system through risky lending to what were called NINJA borrowers -  "No income, no jobs, no assets." This financial crisis didn't come about because of a war or an economic slump, but was entirely man made. They infected the financial system with toxic worthless debt and the government in both the U.S. and U.K. had to step in to bail many of them out and to prevent the global capitalist system from collapsing. Very few people even saw it coming and were taken completely by surprise.

Lehman Brothers had been heavily involved in sub-prime lending and weren't bailed out and went bankrupt. It's well known that before going out of business, Lehman Brothers had asked George Walker, a non-executive director of Lehman Brothers, to make a call to the Oval Office with a last-ditch appeal for a government bailout. Walker, was a cousin of President Bush. When Bush wouldn't take his call, that was the end of Lehman Brothers.

In 2008, the capitalist system was saved by state intervention. In Britain, big business became Britain's most lavished benefit claimant. More than £1tn of public money was poured into the banks following the financial crash. It has been described as socialism for the rich and capitalism for the rest of us. In the aftermath of the financial crash of 2008, many unemployed people in Britain saw their state benefits being cut to pay for the bailout of bankers.