The Moral Defence of Capitalism

The Moral Defence of Capitalism
2006-05-25
www.nuevaprensalibre.com

When something works, it endures. Nothing in the history of humanity has
lasted forever in contrast to the principles that govern evolution and
development. The capacity that enables the philosophy of capitalism to
adapt itself to social and economic practices has given it the
possibility to endure independently from errors and from its enemies and
sworn detractors. If it has not been the best model for the well being
of humanity, at least, no other model has replaced it and much less
superseded it.

The unsuccessful communist model that tried to put theory into practice
has been left behind even though some persist in regenerating it with
subtle opportunistic masquerades. The essence of capitalism, on the
contrary, that takes its principles from practice goes ahead. What is
the reason that pushes it and makes it superior in spite of the
hold-outs, many of them in the communist left? It is without doubt,
freedom. Democracy and capitalism march together like the most
harmonious combination of structure and superstructure in all civilized
society. And in this, always take advantage in the face of strange
monstrosities that now try to mix capitalism with totalitarianism, like
China, North Korea, Vietnam and Cuba.

The practices of capitalism rise up spontaneously and readjust
themselves in the face of the demands and laws of the market. They take
the gift of curing for themselves their hurts and cutting out their dry
or unproductive branches. Private initiative is the best tonic.
Competition contributes to the quality of each cure or chronometric remedy.

It is a qualitative process that in the short or medium term results in
benefiting the collectivity. But what happens with the capitalists that
in their desire for wealth negotiate even with the enemy? The
capitalists understand a great deal about yield and productivity; but
very little of ideologies and the moral defence of the system that by
nature promotes and protects them while promoting and protecting private
property as the principal base for production.

Because of this empty ideology the capitalists invest in China, North
Korea, Viet Nam and Cuba, the last traces of communism, countries that
through their ideological essence reject capitalists. It seems that
against this there is no embargo, that forces them to understand. They
mock the ideology by giving oxygen with the help of their investments to
their sworn hangmen.

People easily forget their tragedies and many capitalists seem to forget
that they were victims of confiscations and that they lost everything
when these regimes took power. The moral defence of capitalism imposes
itself as a system that promotes them, that generates them. But even
more many act against it without understanding that in this game they
are playing with their own existence. And the insistent communists at
the edge of the abyss take advantage of this empty ethic to survive and
wait for the moment of revenge. Fortunately now they are a few and time
is running out for them.

And what is to be said of the countries that make a game of them? The
mistaken and conflicting politics of many governments carry part of the
blame. Canada is an example. While condemning human rights violations in
Cuba, it establishes so called "Constructive engagement", where
companies like Sherritt discover and exploit nickel and petroleum
deposits and for a few dollars more they become vile accomplices in the
exploitation of defenceless Cubans controlled and poorly paid by their
regime.

The European Union does something else. After castigating Castro for two
years for the imprisonment of 75 of the most renowned dissident leaders,
it returned to the supposed dialogue with a deaf person the does not
want to hear and shows itself more desperate than Castro himself in the
reestablishment of relations, after it achieved the symbolic liberation
of some political prisoners instead of all as had been a condition
initially for economic aid.

United States, the country that carries the flag in the fight against
communism, also has contributed directly and indirectly to the
strengthening of its enemies. The politics of favourable trade with
China contravenes the politics of embargo used with Cuba. And we ask
ourselves, why the difference faced with regimes that define themselves
with essentially the same ideology. Both political systems in their
extremes have given disastrous results precisely for this reason, for
being extreme political systems. Now the U.S. is dealing with the
consequences in the face of capitalists that press to invest in Cuba and
in the face of the dangerous rise of Cuba driven by the capitalists.
China, declared by USA as a preferential nation for development is
transforming little by little into a boomerang. Upon receiving the
breath of capitalist air, the Chinese government recently declared that
it is ready to again be the empire that it was previously before being
literally ruined by communist centralization. Without doubt China is a
"made in USA Frankenstein" and we already know the end of this story, we
already know what the monster does with his creator.

From those contradictory pressures these regimes make a mockery of
themselves. Cuba, after making certain obligatory concessions to
capitalist investment, now returns to the inoperable centralization of
its economy, receiving only gasps of oxygen it can then continue to
blame the American embargo for its inevitable disaster. It appears a
style of these despots to automatically declare themselves enemies of
the United States. It is an old trick to blame and attack Yankee
imperialism in order that those jealous of the wealth of others desire
to steal it away rather than to produce it themselves. The Venezuela of
Chávez is the clearest example and perhaps the Argentina of Kirchner
follows in the same footsteps. It is like declaring oneself enemy of the
cow while nourishing oneself with its milk. Such ingratitude! It is like
taking the fruit and the shade of a tree while crushing its roots.

What can we do faced with such grand hypocrisy? The fight is hard,
harder when we fight against enemies and traitors, above all when there
are more traitors than enemies. And while so many of the last despots
communist or non-communist survive mocking themselves of everything,
receiving from some "enemies" what others take away. We know that
economic interests go above political interests and that the failure of
communism rested however in having done the opposite. We trust then that
by whatever means the triumph will continue being ours through the love
that liberates and unites wills and hearts, and through the natural
inclination that steers man towards freedom faced with whatever variant
or modern forms of slavery.

Translated from Spanish by Eileen Longson.

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