Crony-Marxism, NOT Crony-Capitalism
The robber barons of the early 20th century identified the basic principles of socialism and communism, those that most appealed to the common man, installed themselves as leaders, and used their great power and wealth to gradually morph it into the "quasi-capitalist" society under which we now suffer. The intention was not to physically enslave, but to modify mainstream political thought towards socialistic ideals. This enabled them to promote the economic manipulation of the masses for their personal eternal benefit, at the expense of our own.
Why would wealthy capitalists want a socialistic regime? Simple greed. As long as one is the ruler and not the ruled, any type of governmental power is appealing. The larger the entity and greater the regulation, the greater the power. They had no intention of being governed, and are still in control today. Government controls much more of the economy under socialism, communism or fascism than it can in a true capitalistic society. A socialist system of government is a much more lucrative economic model for the ruling class. As leader, it is much easier to grant favors to oneself, favored friends, relatives or businesses, oftentimes for a price.
We all know that large businesses are able to benefit from manipulation of tax laws and other regulations by using their lobbying power to acquire governmental favors. This exploitation of the economic system to one’s own benefit and at the expense of others is what so many have now come to describe as “crony-capitalism”.
If you think about it, this term is an obvious oxymoron. Much like “rational liberal” or “progressive conservative” these two contradictory words can’t combine to form a meaningful thought. True capitalism is a “free and fair” market system designed to be equally fair in opportunity for everyone who legally works hard to succeed. Picking winners and losers is not capitalism. It is central planning, socialism. A capitalist doesn’t want government’s interference or help; he wants it out of his way, resulting in an equal economic playing field, no favoritism.
Cronyism absolutely does permeate our system. It makes some wealthy while eliminating others from competition. Its mere existence proves that true capitalism is not present because it can’t co-exist with its opposite form, that of socialism. Centrally controlling business by dictating economic policy and granting favor is clearly a centrist or Marxist philosophy; it is not a weakness of capitalism. When it exists in any form, capitalism has lost. “Crony-Marxism” or “Crony-socialism” is a proper and accurate term for a favor-granting government.
The news media and talking head’s incessant hammering of the public about stories and examples of what they call “crony-capitalism” is the left’s way of demonizing the free-market system in order to eradicate the last remnants of it. Conservatives have even taken to use the term, ignoring the definition of the word. If the word “capitalism” must be in the phrase, a more accurate term to describe centralized favor granting and receiving would be “anti-capitalism”. Like “honest politician” or “happy-go-lucky curmudgeon”, “crony” and “capitalism” are mutually contradictory words forming a paradox.
Analogy
Envision a peaceful farm with several loyal work dogs. These dogs are subjected to the local wolf population and eventually inter-breed with them. At first the new canine breed may be manageable, even helpful, stronger, in some ways even better. Later as they breed deeper, more of their wolf DNA is introduced into the mixed population of the wolves and hybrids. Soon the new animal takes on the more dominant characteristics of the wolf than the dog.
When these new animals, originally accidentally bred from ordinary farm dogs tear down the chicken coop fences, get into the henhouse and kill all the chickens, then go after the sheep too, do you say that they were bad farm dogs that killed the chickens and sheep? Would you suggest that dogs can’t be trusted near farms or other vulnerable animals? Or would you admit that after a few generations they were no longer dogs, but now had to be defined and classified as wolves because dogs clearly don’t normally do that, but wolves do. Could you admit that they are not bad dogs at all – they are now ordinary wolves, doing what is expected of them?
A businessman looking for an advantage and getting caught in the financial henhouse is a scenario possible only through the advancement of socialism and its inherent and inevitable evolutionary corruption. If this can happen so easily, then the market is no longer free and so therefore no longer capitalistic. It is clearly a centrally controlled market, which is the definition of socialism. Like the peaceful loyal dogs interbred over time with wolves, sooner or later they can no longer be correctly identified as dogs at all.
If enough are convinced that such a thing as “cronyism” could so easily be had under a particular economic system, than that system itself must be inherently flawed in design. Such an unfair a system therefore must be abandoned and replaced. We must begin to refer to this favor-granting disgraceful anti-capitalistic approach in terms that which accurately describe it. It is the result of central economic planning, not possible under pure capitalism. It is “Crony-Marxism”.
All governments must have rules for businesses. According to capitalists, these rules should be in place to best reflect fairness in business and to disallow fraudulent practices. Rules can also be defined as “regulations”. When these regulations cross the line between promotion of a fair playing field for competition and the obvious favoring of one business or industry over others, we have crossed the line from capitalism into Marxism. A centrally planned economy is the basis for a Marxist government. Where is that line? Not sure, but it is somewhere in our rear view mirror, and we better turn around soon.
“Crony-capitalism” is a phrase invented by Marxists to defend their ideas when they haven’t yet taken complete universal root. It incorrectly defines capitalism when in reality what they claim to abhor are the inevitable consequences of socialism. In a capitalistic society, a business is left alone to succeed or to fail under limited laws. They are not helped by governmental favors, nor are they hindered by them. To even ask for favors from government indicates a leaning towards socialistic tendency, a favoring of centralized planning.
This is why the robber barons really didn’t want capitalism. Despite their wealth and power, they feared competition just like any other businessman. If they could build a financial empire, a competitor might come along and challenge their position – unless the rules favored themselves. If they could put into place laws and regulations which would increase their own positions while restricting their challenger’s ability to compete, they would be far less vulnerable to competitors.
Since these “rules” defined by most as cronyism are made by government to favor one group or business over another. It is central government in origination and so therefore socialistic and Marxist in nature, obviously not capitalistic. Maybe we should actually try true capitalism again and see how it works – the suggestions to accomplish that come later.