This reflection paper examines the sustainability of capitalism and globalization through the lens of the Commanding Heights DVD series and personal observation. The paper argues that capitalism's structural lack of an ideological foundation — particularly its failure to account for human worth beyond productivity — creates conditions for growing inequality, social unrest, and eventual systemic collapse. Drawing on examples such as public transit and healthcare, the author contends that when profit-driven systems consistently fail to serve basic human needs, the resulting inequities threaten not only social stability but the long-term viability of the global economic order itself.
It is difficult to discuss capitalism in any objective sense, having grown up after the reforms of the Reagan and Thatcher era had already taken hold and become accepted — at times, it seems, unconditionally — as the correct way to run an economy. Capitalism is simply the only system I have ever truly experienced, and though I see problems with it and with the effects of globalization, I can also see how regulation can get out of hand and restrict business, with detrimental effects for everyone. It would be useful to have first-hand experience with stricter price and practice regulations, though such regulations were likely never as strict in practice as they appeared on paper.
The authors of the Commanding Heights DVD series appear to support free market capitalism, but they too have concerns about the staying power of the system as it currently operates. The economic gap between the haves and the have-nots has grown steadily since the 1980s, according to the series, and this trajectory can only produce instability and, eventually, collapse.
It is possible that we are witnessing the beginning of that collapse now. Though the failure of large banks was initially tied more directly to the mortgage-backed security meltdown, this has had a domino effect on the global economy. Such interconnectedness has been beneficial for many countries — or at least for individual businessmen and government leaders within them — but the current world economic situation demonstrates that a growing reliance on globalization may have been a serious mistake. Problems originating in one region can drag down the rest of the global economy, which is precisely what occurred when the United States economy began its most recent decline.
As the authors of the Commanding Heights series also point out, economic globalization has done more to disrupt the equalization of wealth throughout the world than it has to enhance it. Poor countries have grown poorer, in large part at the expense of commerce benefiting wealthier nations.
The main problem with capitalism, as the authors also suggest, is its lack of an ideological basis — and, more fundamentally, its active denial of any process by which ideology could be implemented. The basic tenet of the free market is that enforced regulation limits profitability and growth, and that markets themselves will correct any mistakes by rising to meet demand. This has already proven not to be the case for certain unprofitable ventures, such as public transit, which is nearly always operated at a loss. The very existence of bus service people can use to get to work is a testament to the fact that capitalism does not answer everything.
Even more troubling are the instances where capitalism provides only an incomplete answer. The issue of healthcare is critically important both in this country and around the world. Under a capitalist and globalist economy, many people are unable to afford the medical care they need. When there is no way to profit from treating someone, they often go untreated. There is no direct economic argument against allowing poor, sick people to die — yet even raising such a possibility is abhorrent to the human spirit.
"Capitalism fails to account for intrinsic human value"
If room in the world's economic system is not made for such ideological valuations, then further strife and eventual collapse may be the only possible future. Problems are already stirring in South America, Africa, and the Middle East, and when people realize they are not as powerless as they have been led to believe, they will stop remaining quiet.
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