Capitalism isn’t what’s wrong in America, this is…

Jonathan Poland
2 min readOct 7, 2022

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Just saw this clip at 11pm and couldn’t help myself. I had to watch and get another dose of capitalism beatdown. Krystal is a well spoken journalist with strong opinions which make her an excellent on camera host.

She unfortunately has no clue or decides not to check herself with some doses of reality. The first dose is that governments around the United States collect over $5 trillion a year in revenue. The GDP is ~$23 trillion. Do that math… nearly 22% of all the final goods and services produced and sold went to the U.S. and State governments. And, they didn’t solve poverty, hunger, healthcare, etc…

Krystal, you seem to be conflating capitalism with socialism. America is not a fully capitalist country, no country can be I don’t think. I do hope you would agree that you (as an individual) have more opportunity HERE than almost anywhere else in the world and a lot of people have come HERE for that opportunity. However, you have corporations like the pharma company you speak about that are embedded with government regulatory bodies, essentially funding them — that’s not capitalism. Moreover, the largest companies are generally publicly owned by huge swaths of individual investors who give up their proxy to large firms — that’s closer to socialism or corporatism.

As for jobless misery, capitalism isn’t the reason there are unemployed workers. Capitalists would rather have no minimum wage and a monetary system based on real money (gold) where costs don’t rise, but that’s not reality. So as the saying goes, you have to play the cards you’re dealt.

Thankfully, we still have freedom to choose and it does appear many want to choose sheep like behavior. That’s not capitalism lady, that’s human nature. We were sheep before capitalism helped improve society beyond anything seen in this current timeline. Capitalism isn’t the boogieman that doesn’t want you to think, people don’t like to think. We can barely choose between blue or red.

Furthermore, we are not powerless against the overwhelming forces of our economic system. You live in far out Virginia, likely because it’s cheaper or affords you a lifestyle more conducive to your personal tastes. That’s capitalism working for you, not against you. You could live here in the city and have a shorter commute, but you may have to pay more for housing, taxes, basic needs, etc. That’s freedom of choice Krystal.

There is so much to unpack from your impassioned statements in this 10 minute segment, and it’s unfortunate if this is actually how you feel about capitalism. I would ask that if you’re willing to open your mind and gather some new perspectives, there are some great resources at Mises Institute. Some great people there like Robert Murphy, Tom Woods, Tom DiLorenzo that could maybe set you straight because I think you’ve lost the plot.

as for Bill Burr… he’s a comedian that does rants for laughs and without capitalism, he wouldn’t be standing on stages around the world…

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Jonathan Poland

20+ years advising business leaders. Posts on business, finance, and notes from the journey. More @ jonathanpoland.com.