Yesterday I called Democrats some names and was pretty hard on leftist overall. They mostly deserve it but I will note that I think less of Republicans, I just can’t work up the energy to tear down and stomp on their ideas. In the spirit of good sport I think today I’d discuss things in my own ideology that worry me. Obviously I believe libertarianism, anarcho-capitalism, small government/free market ideologies to be more correct than conservativism, progressivism, socialism what have you. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t run into problems. I often encounter situations, anecdotes, problems that I don’t think my preferred ideology would handle well. So here are a few things that keep even this free market, small government radical up at night.
Capitalism and Anxiety
Your 30 years old and have a degree in engineering. Between your parents support and working part time you were able to graduate university debt free. You met a girl when you were 25 and you married 3 years later. Two months ago she told you she was pregnant. Basically, you’ve made all the right choices in life. You studied and then worked hard, you planned for a family rather than having it show up unexpected one afternoon. Your future is bright and if Vegas were making odds on you living out your life in the upper middle class or higher you would need to bet $1000 or more just to win a hundred. That is to say the odds are heavily in your favor.
You can’t sleep tonight though. Your boss called a company meeting and announced that your company had been sold and everyone should expect changes, maybe even layoffs. What does that mean for you? Will you have a job still in two months? Maybe your wife could keep working while you look for work? Your town only has a few companies that employ engineers like you? If they aren’t hiring will you move away from your wife’s family? You were counting on them to help raise the child, but if you have to move there goes that plan. You had done everything right in life, but now there are more unknowns than you are comfortable with.
That is the most mild form of anxiety capitalism can create. I’m just pointing out that even for those who appear to be doing well, there is often a storm of anxiety inducing thoughts swirling round their brain. The poor worry about paying bills, feeding their children, and if two jobs is enough. The rich worry about their social standing, the well being of their worker (they aren’t all cold hearted,) and if what they are doing benefits anyone in a real way. From the very top, to the very bottom everyone in a capitalist society has anxiety. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
When I look back at medieval Europe’s serf I see a group that has a hard life, but I’m not sure I see much anxiety. Sure a bad crop, approaching army, or cooling temperatures can really fuck up the day, but they can’t control those things. I’d have to imagine there lives may suck but they are rather worry free. There is something about capitalism that puts people on edge, makes them depressed, keeps them up till 3 in the morning night, after night, after night. Maybe the welfare state helps this a bi, but even there we seemed to have designed the system to only increase anxiety. Fill out these twenty forms, piss into this bottle, and spend two days a week waiting in line and we will give you $800 a month. Way to lighten the load welfare state.
I love markets and I’m pretty okay with capitalism, but monetary societies puts a ton of pressure on people to chase money. Sometimes I look back on those serfs, who couldn’t leave the land, and were forced to work for their lord for free every so often and think they might be having more fun than we are today. Serfs don’t lose their jobs. They will surely meet tough times during their life but how much anxiety do they experience when their choices are essentially, should I plow the field or shear the sheep first.
Families
That last one was a bit longer than anticipated so I’ll try and be quick. The core unit of capitalism is the nuclear family. The Nuclear family provides of method of rearing new children while also remaining mobile. Sounds great right? Well it puts a ton of pressure on the mother and father to do all the work. No more having grandma cover over to watch kids on date night. No more having the uncle take the kids to a ball game to give mom a day off. No more instant friendships between cousins. Its all on the nuclear family. A mobile piece of capital that can move around in search of the highest returns.
Its great for a capitalist system that values mobility in its labor force, but I’m more and more convinced we are sacrificing family happiness, fulfillment, and ability to pass some parental responsibilities to others you trust and don’t have to pay. I grew up with tons of extended family within 30 minutes of me. Grandparents, cousins, and uncles were an ever present feature of my childhood and the took a lot of pressure off my parents. I don’t have any data in front of me but I’d wager less than half of Americans have family to rely on.
