Ideological Balance

The fundamental flaw of communism is that it requires individual sacrifice of self-importance. The fundamental flaw of capitalism is that it requires a global sacrifice of conscience. Each of these ideologies has its own unique reasons why it cannot be sustainable.

Capitalism is what we are currently experiencing. Its effectiveness is arguable, since the opinion of the upper class is very positive and the opinion of the lower class doesn't matter. The middle class, which is the largest of the three, is completely indifferent. We are content because we can afford more 'needs' than those below us and some of the 'wants' of those above us. We trudge through our workplaces like the systematic slaves that we are, conformed to the routines of life and distracted by the lustre of meaningless pop culture. Ultimately, the average working class person is unconcerned because they don't have to struggle to live. If you look at this same society from the perspective of those who have been failed by it - those who don't have the security of health or food that we do - the flaws are obvious. Whether you admit it or not, there are many who suffer needlessly because of capitalism, and it certainly does not provide equality for everyone. Especially those who we capitalize upon.

Communism in our society still has residual negativity surrounding it from the McCarthy era. This is possibly the longest lasting and thus most effective propaganda campaign that has ever been achieved in modern history. A properly functioning communist society requires an entire nation to come to the realization that individuals are not as important as the whole. I concede that this is an impossible task, especially when applied to this cultural folderol we embrace. If communism were to be implemented, it's hard to predict what the outcome would be. Most likely, though, we would still trudge through our workplaces like systematic slaves, still conformed to our routines, and still distracted by red herrings. The advantage of communism is that every individual is treated equally and provided for. The disadvantage is it breeds a lethargic workplace, which is the same disadvantage as capitalism... and if you don't believe me, look at corporate and government employees.

I do not endorse a strictly communist ideology, even though its benefits clearly outweigh capitalist benefits, because the plausibility of changing an entire nation's thinking quickly enough to actually function is so unlikely it borderlines ridiculous. However, it is absolutely unquestionable that the capitalism we have now is equally ridiculous. It sets a mentality that the most important thing in life is money and that we are defined by what we own, which creates incredible moral instability. When we think of money in this way, we essentially deify an intangible concept. Money then develops religious characteristics, which is very dangerous. In the course of history we've seen that religion is often misapplied - or misinterpreted - by people of influence strictly for personal gain, resulting in innumerable wars and atrocities. This trait is not historically unique, we can observe the consequences of financial religion in the cases of Enron, Bre-X, and most recently the Conrad Black scandal.

Continually raising the minimum wage has little positive effect on the economy. What this does is raise the wealth of the lower working class up modestly, while the rest of the working class remains stagnant. This essentially only raises the class difference between the poor and the lower class. In turn, companies raise their prices to compensate for the wage increase and there is no degree of significant achievement. All that was accomplished was to make somebody who has no money less likely to be able to afford the same basic necessities that he needed before. Is this progress? What needs to be done (if only as a sign of good faith to the vast majority of the population) is to bring down the level of difference between the upper class and the middle class. Once there is more regulation on the out-of-control upper class and we are closer to a social balance, we can enjoy the economic and ethical prosperity of a properly functioning society.