Something I was thinking about

When comparing the merits and shortfalls of capitalism and Marxism, the criterion for judgment that is most often used is efficiency of production.  GDP.  This is a fine, sensible way to evaluate capitalism, as it is a system which is designed to be the most competitive and most efficient.  If capitalism is also just or compassionate, this is a secondary effect, or unintentional side effect.  Marxism on the other hand, much maligned for the dearth of successful Marxist economies in the world, makes no claims as to efficiency or competitive strength.  It is the ideology founded on social justice and humanity.  A Marxist economy will be far less productive than a capitalist economy, and also far more just and humane.

In the United States we have been indoctrinated with the quasi-religious propaganda of capitalism to such a frightening extent that we, quite sincerely, reject Marxism because it loses to capitalism in the only contest in which we have thought to enter it, namely efficiency of production.  But this is like placing a whale and a thoroughbred on a racetrack and telling them to race for the finish line.  That the thoroughbred will win is assured; he has been bred and trained for just such a contest.  But his breeding will not help him if the two are cast in the ocean and told to hold their breath and dive.

So if we are forced to choose between pure capitalism and pure Marxism for an economic model, it makes more sense to first determine whether we prefer a system which produces the most goods or a system which is the most just and humane.  We cannot, at least in this country, speak from experience as to how a Marxist economy succeeds or fails in its goals, and how the goals of social justice and humanity themselves impact our lives.  But one thing is clear to me.  Under our hybridized capitalist system, we have become so much more productive than previous generations could have guessed, and yet I submit that beyond a certain threshold of material and nutritional prosperity, more GDP does not translate to better lives.  In fact, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to attribute our obesity and diabetes epidemics to an overabundance of cheap nutrition.  In closing, I would like to point out to those who reflexively dismiss Marxism as inherently inferior to capitalism that if productivity was truly the most sacred end of an economic system, then our society would not have put in place all of the regulations and restrictions which make our society more equal, more safe, and more fair, and less purely capitalistic.