America First? Get Real...

"We've reached out to insurance companies and American businesses and asked they are willing to do their fair share in helping the country through this terrible crisis. Several large insurance companies have already pledged that testing for the Corona virus will be free of charge." It's amazing that this line of reasoning is still being used, and even believed.

_{Image by geralt - source: Pixabay}

But that's what you get when decade after decade all we hear is that the markets are the one-stop-shop for all of society's needs, and that the government, who's very task is taking care of society's needs, is never the solution and always the problem. We need more ventilators and face-masks, so we'll just politely ask some large manufacturers to temporarily re-organize their entire production-process to make the needed goods, and since they're American businesses they'll surely fulfill their patriotic duty and do whatever is needed to save valuable American lifes. Who believes that nonsense? I know I don't, and I'm not even American; no large business, wherever it is in the world, will let anything override their prime objective of making profits for their shareholders and CEO's.

So when you watch the linked video, I wonder what goes through your head, dear reader; do you believe that Tucker Carlson is really surprised when he hears that American businesses, that are really multinational businesses with no allegiance to any particular country, choose a more lucrative deal with foreign countries, over serving American customers first? To be honest with you, I do believe he's genuinely upset and angry; I do believe he and many others are that naive, even when history is clear on this subject. It always takes a strong government to reign in capitalism in times of need; during crises it's the most normal and rational thing to freeze the markets and rely on government planning, rationing and regulation. We're lucky there are some countries left in the world who remember this truth, but the sad truth is that the so called leader of the free world isn't one of them.

So forget about "America First" or "Make America Great Again"; that's never gonna happen as long as it takes a terrible crisis for only a part of the population to see capitalism's ugly face for what it is. Until that time it's "Me First" for individuals and businesses alike. The problem is systemic and won't be solved, in America or anywhere else, as long as people keep their faith in a system based on greed, which is exactly what capitalism is. There is no such thing as a free and voluntary exchange of goods, because in every exchange we start with two opposing parties who selfishly want to get the deal that's best for them, and them alone, and one of those parties will come out a loser. No win-win here, it's a fairy-tale. Capitalists don't even disagree with this because they also believe that being a loser will motivate you to do better next time around; the old carrot and stick incentive that ultimately simply blames the victims and has no qualms whatsoever about sacrificing those victims' lifes. We need solidarity, international solidarity, the very thing that's forever out of reach in a system based on competition and greed and a matching mindset.

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