Free Markets?

Sullivan excerpts a piece by Francis Fukuyama at American Interest on the future of American Capitalism.

The excerpt got me thinking, especially after reading the sentence that "Alan Greenspan admitted last fall that he was astonished that the self-interest of the financial community did not prevent it from making huge mistakes."

And this is astonishing in what way? It is the very model of American capitalism itself. I have never heard my teachers or professors or business mentors tell me, in earnest, that there was plenty of business or opportunity to go around for everyone to become wealthy. No, to get that I had to read Deepak Chopra.

The American way of thinking is that this is a dog-eat-dog world, right? Get what you can get before everyone else discovers how easy it is. I had a boss once tell me, "You don't get rich by being smart; you get rich by someone else being stupid." In my work as a mortgage sales professional, I knew a young co-worker who routinely charged more for the product we both sold, just because he knew his clients would pay. When I brought this to the attention of the national sales manager, he told me, "I'm not going to restrict the entrepreneurial efforts of my best salespeople."

Although I never cheated anyone out of a dollar, I certainly knew that while I was making multiple six figures a year I knew it wouldn't last. So my wife and I always did our best to save and have at least three months' income in the bank for when times were bad (little did we know that three months was worth jack shit in this economy today). You don't think guys like Bernie Madoff and Michael Milken -- and these are crooks, mind you -- stashed away millions and millions offshore to avoid it being detected and/or confiscated by the authorities?

Screwing the other guy so I can have mine is the way things go in America. Few really think long term, and those who do live distinctly low profile lives, which is sort of another un-American way of living. This country has lived on top for so long that we can't stop ourselves from living too large.