Wealth, Entitlement and the Relation between Production and Consumption in America:

An Essay on 21st Century Capitalism’s Epic Failure.



My computer desk is parallel to a wall, on which a giant map of the world is displayed. Maps, it seems to me, are relatively unfashionable wall-hangings now, and globes are even less popular. I wonder how instructive Kellie Pickler’s performance on the dreadful show, Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader really is? Not only was it startling, indeed terrifying, that she was unaware of Europe’s status as a continent (not a country) or that she thought that perhaps Budapest was the capital of France - the concept of the program is, in itself equally scary, if not more-so. Any culture where it is a challenge for an adult to outsmart a ten year old, is a culture in decay. Regardless of the show’s ostensible irony and self mockery, the stupidity of working-class Americans should not be fodder for their own entertainment – it is indicative of a kind of narcissistic-solipsism, “That person is so stupid, we are similar, but I am not that stupid”, and it is a light-hearted example of what this current economic crisis really is: a human resource crisis.
It need not be strictly the domain of political scientists and economists to diagnose our marketplace’s illness, because the ailment is common and obvious: we over consume and under produce. However, what has continually gone unmentioned is our inability to produce. It often feels like a matter of choice, it seems as though we all got together at some point and chose to outsource labour, and seek employment in abstract fields like economics and personal finance; to essentially be in the business of dealing with money, rather than actually generating any. Perhaps to better understand our current predicament we should stop talking about money entirely, because it is a vague concept that only clouds what is a much simpler problem, a problem that has nothing to do with money, per say, and more to do with credit, production, over consumption and that old jest the American Dream.


The reconstitution of Mercantile Capitalism in America, made possible entirely through the Transatlantic Slave Trade, developed production and consumption relationships with very finite life spans. The de-institutionalization of slavery and indentured servitude, presented the American marketplace with a similar, albeit much less serious and ethically disturbing problem like professional sports has encountered with the use of steroids. How do you conduct business fairly after acknowledging finally, that it has been done unfairly for so long. Those who make an ethical decision not to use steroids, although following a morally higher path, put themselves at a physical disadvantage to steroid users. How do you restructure the rules to insure fair-play? More importantly, for the future of the sport, how does one reestablish expected norms of player behavior that will at once navigate out of the steroid problem and establish business trends to extend beyond the problem indefinitely.

The American financial system before the abolishment of slavery was cheating. The labour is free, and the labourers are disenfranchised, or better put, non-franchised, because they were never agents of their own freewill, at least not in this economic system which was bereft of ethics or humanity. For the landowning class, wealth was unlimited, progress was endless, and growth was infinite. I will argue that the American relationship between owner, labourer and consumer has never really shook free from this mould. With careful precision the proto-capitalist will do everything in his power to maintain this status quote, which encourages conspicuous consumption, the disenfranchisement of the working class and the continued proliferation of inequality.


This admission of guilt on behalf of the modern business person, is repelled with well-practiced claims about capitalism's profiteering from equality, "the more consumers are successful the more they can consume and further stimulate the economy", if this is the goal of capitalism in America then it has failed miserably. It is no secret that the gap between rich and poor continues to widen, and that job layoffs and unemployment are more to the disadvantage of the working classes. There was a time however, as recent as the 1970's when Finally Got The News, a film about the creation of black labour unions in the motor city was made, when the American economy was propped up by products produced and sold in America. Now however, those educated within the American post-secondary system seek jobs in finance, law, politics, and other things dealing largely with intellectual or abstract property. And so it becomes simply inevitable that the system will collapse, and it did.

Not only was the average American middle class suburbanite living beyond her means, but America as a nation, as an economic force of consumption and minimal production was living beyond its means.This comes partly from the new, sick American dream, and the audacious assumption that the reign would be infinite. Why else would GM consistently make cars that no one wanted to drive? Why would Chrysler, in the face of an energy crisis, make cars that guzzle gas in a way only comparable to the cars they made in the late 60's and early 70's? In a word, arrogance. This is simply the ugly truth - we want to think this recession is something that has been done to us, primarily by 'the banks', this massive assailant we have demonized and scapegoated. Although the banks did business like cash rich teenagers, it is nevertheless counter productive to avoid the blame in this catastrophe, or at the very lease, some of the blame. It was the Citizen, after all, who took on the mortgage she couldn't afford, and the American who drove the SUV and spent money like he was on vacation. We began to believe we needed those things, which yes, we were told we needed. But still, we believed it.

In an effort to never compromise we compromised ourselves, our rationality, and our foresight. They sold the American dream and the American chose to live in it, but of course, as with any dream, regardless of how sweet it may be, we were destined to awake with cold shoulders, amidst tireless reality, which despite our neglect, never stopped existing. Now, most likely and contrary to what the executive government says it's going to do, we will patch up the old broken system and batten down the empire's hatches for another storm that is nestled deep in the far off horizon. We will stand, breath bated, on the American shore watching it come, naively hoping that it will simply pass by. It would take something similar to the civil war to disrupt the power structure; the slaves have to demand their own freedom. Yes, that is the real state of things, and to feel free now, when you are not, is the worst kind of sin. That is how we have truly compromised ourselves; by watching them take the reins and steer us into oblivion, and to feel, not only like a complacent spectator, but also like a willful participant. As has always been the case, the advancement of the working class is the key to survival. By producing more and consuming less, and not listening to the pundits who tell you that the world economy depends on our conspicuous consumption, we can point ourselves in a more favorable direction.

Unfortunately, doing so is far more difficult than saying so. We will not simply get the richest one percent to agree to redevelop the American market relationships in favour of the labourer, clerk and merchant. It will require vigilance and organization and above all else, faith. Not faith in the pacifying religious sense; having stock in the strength of human thought and good intentions. Finally, we have to want better to obtain better. Before self reliance can be demanded, one must believe in her own independence and her entitlement to freedom. Change necessitates, by its very nature, overwhelming effort and expansive thought. Revitalization requires large scale planning and direct action, unwavering conviction and the underlying sense that what we're doing is right. We must recapture the momentum, and this time, we cannot let it be taken away by ideologues, fear mongers and the greedy. Do not be fooled by success as you now know it. Define it for yourself, and strive towards it responsibly, as you once did.


Jesse Borg, June 2009