Capitalism vs Corporatism

While visiting peoples blogs, sites and listening to opinions, I am often faced with people who blame capitalism for todays problems. And why wouldn't they? They've always been told we had a capitalistic market.

But is that really the case? Do we really have capitalism in America? Do we have a free market? In some places, yes we do. The best example would be the internet. Where pretty much everyone is given free reign to do business as they please. Obviously, there are still laws that must be obey'd, such as theft, but is free of government regulations. But that isn't the case for the heavier markets. Those markets are heavily regulated.

Why are these regulations bad? Well for starters, regulations are introduced because they feel someone is doing something bad, or that the possibility for someone to do something bad exists. On the outside, it would appear these regulations help the American people and businesses. However, in reality these regulations punish everyone. Even those companies who would never do anything bad to begin with. And not only that, but most likely the act that would cause the regulation in the first place is probably already illegal. In instances where companies must prove they are obeying the regulations, this assumes that everyone is guilty and they must prove otherwise. This is completely against the ideals this country was founded on. Yet, companies are forced to deal with these all the time.

And now that the government is involved in these industries, in come the lobbyist. Big corporations with alot of money are able to persuade politicians into passing laws and regulations that help their business. These are added as little pieces to bills, and by adding them congress is able to get votes on bills and makes changes that otherwise would never fly. Of course, the smaller companies of the industry are rarely represented. A recent well known case of this is the internet gambling law. Clearly not a law the American people wanted.

But that happens with just regulation, what happens when government is really involved with an industry? Such as healthcare, education, etc. Now you have companies who will use lobbyists to get government contracts. Because getting those contracts guarantees you business, funding and customers. And these companies waste money like crazy, and charge the full amount they can for everything. Haliburton was a good example of a company who has been abusing the American taxpayer. Meanwhile, other companies who could perhaps do the job on smaller levels or who don't have good ties are never given a chance. This is passed off as a "free market" or capitalism.

That however just isn't the truth, and goes completely against the definition of a free market and capitalism. When corporations are using money and influence to pass laws, regulate the markets as they see fit and other things, that is corporatism. Some people call it fascism, but I personally believe corporatism is better way to describe it.

So for anyone who says we have a free market and that it doesn't work is wrong. When we had a free market, our economy was thriving. You are right when you say the current system isn't working, but it's corporatism, not capitalism which has lead to the problems and corruption of today.