Saturday 24 November 2012

Basic Flaws of Capitalism


       As an ideology, what are the basic flaws of the Capitalist ideology?

The fundamental flaw in the Capitalist ideology is that it is based on reconciliation between two contradictory positions and hence reconciliation is regarded above truth in a matter were truth should be regarded above reconciliation.The implication of the opposing ideas necessitated a clear verdict one way or the other and not a compromise which has elements of both views merged into a single view which must contain truth and falsehood and by definition must be false overall. 

These opposing ideas were the supremacy of the divine order through Church and that of the human mind. A consensus emerged which traded the Church’s notion of ‘original sin’ or mans inherent wickedness and need for Church’s control for ideas such as the philosopher Rousseau who argued man is born noble and hence freedom will manifest nobility and goodness.

The truth is that man is born neutral of good or evil and instead has no information with which to form correct judgments.

The mind became sovereign and as there is no innate goodness, man’s judgement falls prey to power which corrupts and the system that is setup favors the few that have acquired more wealth and influence. 

In Islam, the creator of Man, Life and the Universe (Allah) has the right to define right and wrong and the possibility of ruler corruption in determining the will of this creator in any given situation is mitigated through political parties accounting the ruler. It is further mitigated by the existence of a judicial branch of the legal system of the Islamic model of government that has the executive powers to remove a deviating ruler. Furthermore the values inculcated in all of societies members are different to those found under the secular model of society and as such that the pursuit of worldly power is subservient to seeking the pleasure of Allah the creator. This in itself reduces the problem from its cause.

      Is the system of economy, which is the fundamental aspect of the Capitalist ideology, a flawed system?

Freedom of ownership is the narrow definition of Capitalism.  Capitalism includes differing degrees of government intervention in the market. Without critiquing the basis of all variations along this spectrum the system as a whole survives root level scrutiny.

The truth is that all variants are tainted with the same error which arises from the creed. In this context, the human mind is unable to get the balance between free markets and government regulation at the point where wealth can be created and distributed. This presupposes that this is the intention of economic management. In reality it is not and the system is hijacked to benefiting the elites.

“The art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizen to give to the other.” Voltaire 1770

Even if government attempt to regulate the free market were intended to create a meritocratic system, market participants seeking freedom and utility above all else, tend to find ways to bypass or reform regulation or ex retail banks and speculative investments. Thus this approach is unworkable due to the lack of intention or ability to regulate the market.

Islam provided the correct framework to allow the market to be unleashed in a safely regulated environment. In addition regulatory bypass is not the norm due to the values of the Islamic society being in harmony with wanting to follow laws and not find creating ways to bypass them through means such as boot legging during the prohibition, and tax avoidance and tax evasion, Repo 105 in the case of Lehman Brothers etc. Examples were the values of the people are not in line with the rules hence negating their effectiveness.

July 2012

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