When Capitalism is Evil and Socialism is Ignorant
“It is as if it were necessary, before a reign of justice appears, for everyone to suffer a cruel retribution—some for their evilness, and some for their lack of understanding.” F. Bastiat, The Law
Capitalists don’t like being branded as evil [aka “pandemic profiteers”] by POTUS and POTPRC but that’s what seems to be happening as Big Meat and Big Chips [among others] scramble to deal with official government responses to the shortages and rapidly rising prices of the products they supply to consumers in world markets. In a more or less assertive [but always entertaining] display of righteous indignation, they claim that those who blame them for the higher prices are ignorant of the “basic laws” of economics, which are free markets, supply and demand, price discovery and above all PROFIT. Indeed, they continue by offering proof that many in their ranks are unable to make a decent profit [they call it a return on their investment] in today’s markets. [I wonder what they think about the return the widow gets on her life $aving$ from the bank?]
Are capitalists evil? Are socialists ignorant? The answer to both questions is a resounding YES !!
So the proper question is, WHEN are they evil and ignorant?
Perhaps, the only way to measure time is with a pendulum of some sort … something that in some way swings back and forth in some sort of “regular” motion. But as it swings further and further in ONE direction, even the experienced observer is tempted to think it will never reverse directions and go back. But just as it reaches an extreme, it suddenly and unexpectedly [as in “blowback”] reverses direction. And it reverses because there are “regulations” built into the natural world which … human evil and ignorance notwithstanding … arrest extremes and force things back towards their shared equilibrium. The Greeks understood this when they proposed “moderation in all things” but [as even they learned the hard way] that is easier said than done.
In his statement above, Bastiat appears to believe JUSTICE somehow provides the moderating influence that restrains evil and enlightens ignorance. But Bastiat failed to provide a clear explanation of just what justice is … other than that it is somehow connected to “law.”
In his writings “On Laws” and “On Duties,” Cicero, perhaps, comes closest to defining justice as a transaction between conscience and nature in which “right reason” is the medium of exchange. Anything less than this, he claims, is pretended justice which cannot maintain equilibrium and thus will not persist.
In answer then to Bastiat’s observation, there can be no “reign of justice” until somebody actually understands what it is and seeks it as Cicero recommended.
Indeed, perhaps it is the seeking per se [if done honestly] that is justice for all practical purposes. Counting on capitalists or socialists [or anyone else who uses words to justify self-interest] to do this is futile. Neither group has the vocabulary needed for the task. It will take BOTH coming together in HUMILITY BEFORE NATURE and turning loose of their fevered ambitions and their tainted words … and using their God-given ability to reason rightly to discover the new [or should we say eternal] words capable of guiding them together step by step and day by day along the way towards the truth which alone is sustainable because it alone is eternal.