On the crisis of confidence in capitalism...

With the GOP primaries in full swing, all the candidates in the pack are in on the attack of Mitt Romney who's the current frontrunner. It runs the gambit of him being the moderate governor from Massachusetts, him being not conservative enough for the GOP core base, him being a Mormon and not a true Christian (even though Mormons would love to point out to anyone cares to hear it out, that Mormons and Christians are one and the same, albeit quite far from truth), him being a flip-flopper, him being too bland and stiff and run-of-the-mill. But finally, finally, someone is looking more closely at his business record.

Indeed, Romney looks like a liberal conservative, much like Scott Brown, the senator from Massachusetts who surprisingly took the senate seat vacated by the passing of Ted Kennedy, which in itself it blasphemous enough. (How dare anyone takes any senate seat from a Kennedy in MA! But that's exactly what happened.) One would think, that should make Romney more electable and appealing to the Independents in the middle, come general election, than, say, Ron Paul. Unfortunately (or not), the GOP base is a lot more conservative than the Mormon moderate in Romney can offer. The South Carolina GOP primary this week should be a good litmus test for Romney.

Unfortunately for Romney, the candidates left standing right now are not going to let up in their attack to the frontrunner. The latest magnifying glass is focused on Romney's past record at Bain Capital, in which he touts as evidence that he's a business leader, that he understands what it takes to fix this economy and high unemployment of close to 9%, yada yada. He claims to have created 100,000 jobs during that tenure, but fails to point out how many jobs he helped axed. Net-net, it's more like a wash, so prefers to leave the details (on how to calculate those 100,000-job-created) murky.

And then, today he offers up another red meat to his GOP rivals, that Romney admits to paying only 15% tax rate, versus the average 21%-35% income tax rate that average Americans pay, the reason being which, he draws income most from capital gains (instead of salary income). One has to wonder how much he really understands the plight and challenges of average Americans, particularly those who have lost jobs during the recession and are unable to find new jobs. And why would he anyways.

I'm sure Democrats are having a field day and good laugh out of the attacks that Obama can easily reuse, come general election time. For all attacks, the 15% tax rate is probably the most damning. It evidently validates what Warren Buffet has claimed, that he pays less than his secretary, and Buffet reckons it's not fair. For all the cynicism from GOP and right-wing editorials like WSJ about the proposed Buffet Rule, he has been right on point. Although GOP would not admit it, they are basically saying, they want to pay less taxes when they become rich enough like Romney and Buffet.

All of these lead to the talk of the increasing disenchantment of the mass public, particularly about income inequality, and the ability of the whole Washington establishment - yes, the whole darn thing, GOP and Democrats included - to do anything about it, since Washington is in it for the ride. It increasingly leads to more soul-searching among Americans in general, on the merits of capitalism (upon which GOP has such strong belief).

It's about damn time that this should happen.

The other day, I was chitchatting with my brother over the phone. He studies economics in college and he likes reading history, and is contemplative, big picture guy. For years, he has tolled in corporate sector, moved up the management rank, until he's downsized, much like everyone else. With the lousy job market, he's decided to give himself early retirement which, I still feel, is a waste of human resources since he's a brilliant guy.

My brother doesn't normally voice an opinion unless and until he's thought through it. What he says the other day rather caught me by surprise. In a few words, he essentially says, we've all been drinking the kool-aid of economics since we're little. We're brought up to believe in the economic theories, division of labor, globalization, free market, and whole nine yards, are all well and good. He reckons now, that all these are just brainwash and all but lies, lies that work only for those in power and those in corporates that are there to make profits. Some of the examples he cites include the decimation of small farmers in developing countries like Mexico after the free trade agreements like NAFTA. Studies after studies support those notions. Those in power in governments and corporate sectors want those in place because it helps consolidate power. The suffering and decimation of the mass public are justified, all in the name of free market, because "free market is good," as we're taught to believe. Increasingly, he's come to question what "good" it's doing and whom it's good for.

Don't get me wrong, my brother is not an Occupy movement guy. He's a level-headed guy and not the demonstration type. But if we look at how all the protests around the world, from Arab Spring, to Europe's youth protests due to austerity measures, to the Occupy Wall Street movement, to even the Tea Party movement, it's protesting the same thing in essence, which is that, the mass public is fed up with the oppression, be it political or economical. No wonder Ron Paul is riding the wave to become the rival GOP candidate to Romney who cannot be further apart in terms of philosophy and outlook than each other.

While I'm quite comfortable in the upper-middle class rung, I must admit I'm becoming increasingly worried about the outlook of the world for the future generations in which my kids are going to grow into. The kind of upward mobility that was once within easy reach seems to slip further and further away. For one, I know the kind of well-paying jobs and opportunities that I've been exposed to would likely not be there anymore when my kids come of age, because most of the opportunities are now spread globally. That's good for corporates since they can make money, picking low cost counties for labor to manufacturing, agriculture, and commodities, and selling to higher priced countries. But I'm not sure if it's really good for any of the countries involved in the long term, if corporates have their way.

One has to ask, isn't that economic progress (stemmed from globalization) exactly the way to help boost China from an economic backwater to a global powerhouse now? It's a qualified yes, because China is essentially putting in place the corporate structure (yes, the capitalism with a communist central-planning twist) that the West has been using. And look what happens to the West now, with Americans and Europeans swimming in debts and no end in sight.

It indeed sounds quite depressing. It's always depressing to talk about an ideal (of capitalism) in which cultures and economies have been built on for hundreds of years. With the collapse of Berlin Wall, there is essentially no competing theories to capitalism now). Look - even China is retrofitting capitalism into their communist structure. One would think the GOP and capitalism believers should be jumping for joy for such triumph and validation of this theory, but we're seeing the exact opposite, which is that people are starting to question the validity of capitalism.

To be honest, I have never believe a complete free market is the way to go. Government has a role to play, in leveling the playing field. There are social safety net that profit-oriented corporates would never bother, should they be left with their own device. Why would they care anyways, if that's not that goal?

There, I said it. I'm sure GOP free market believers would condemn me to hell, but I don't give a dang about GOP. Neither do I believe in Democrats whose real concerns are to maintain the existing infrastructure and power base. America needs its own Arab Spring. I'll be messy but some real change is sorely needed.