Lap Dog Capitalism

While we are looking at the morality of capitalism, I want to dispel a couple of notorious metaphors which have poisoned debate over the past century. This first is the phrase “dog eat dog capitalism.” It seems to me a stupid metaphor in that I have never seen a dog eat another dog. (Mouse eat mouse on the other hand...) Maybe this happened more frequently in the past.

But the image of dogs fighting is somewhat appropriate. The competition between businesses is something akin to jealous dogs vying for attention—competition to please, competition to serve. Sometimes this competition gets ugly, but it is more often cute. Yes, some dogs do go bad, biting the hand that feeds them, but this is the exception. And yes, even eager to please dogs need to be trained to behave, and businesses do need some laws to be under. Properly housebroken, dogs are cute, cuddly and useful; the same goes for business.

The image of cannibalism is far more appropriate to tribes fighting over fixed resources, the capture and abuse of slaves, or the gulags of the Marxists.

Another notorious metaphor is “Social Darwinism.” It implies a tougher fight for survival in a market system. Ironically, when traditional societies become more free market based, populations tend to explode, until parents realize that their children are likely to live long lives. As far as people are concerned, capitalism is anti-Darwinian. A good case could be made that our descendants will be stupider and less hearty because capitalism has made life too easy.

There is an evolutionary aspect to capitalism, but it applies to businesses, not the people they serve. Businesses that fail to provide good service do get weeded out by competition with better businesses. But the evolutionary process is not entirely Darwinian: businesses learn. Lamarkian evolution is the norm.

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