Last term there was a lively debate in the editorial pages of The Dartmouth regarding capitalism and its various merits or faults. However, one item that has been missing from the discussion so far is the question of what, at its core, capitalism really espouses. Some might say greed. I take a different view: capitalism is ultimately about trust and service, and a well-functioning capitalist society offers a multitude of benefits to all its members, but especially those who hold those two values high.
First, we need to take a look at a basic part of the capitalist society: money.
What is money? Paper? Gold? Little electronic blips in a hard drive in a bank?
In a limited sense, yes, those are money. But there's more to it than that. By themselves, the above-mentioned items have limited practical use, and yet the vast majority of us are in awe of the person who has a lot of them. So, they must be proxies for something else altogether different. What, then? I say "A trustworthy promise."
When I sell my labor to an employer, or I sell some product that I have made to a customer, I am giving my time either directly through labor or indirectly through the product. In any case, I am giving up something valuable for something that basically has no value. Suppose I made a warm wool jacket, and I sell it for one piece of paper with some numbers and letters on it. I certainly can't wear the paper; I could burn it, but the heat it gives off is going to be woefully less than the heat that the wool jacket would provide.
In addition, I've spent a lot of time on it, and that time is forever gone. The paper is little compensation. It seems that I've been victimized, and yet I would be more than willing to engage in this trade (if there are enough zeros on the paper!) because that piece of paper represents a promise, a promise that my very generous gift of time and service to my customer will be reciprocated by a third person.
That third person will take my piece of paper as a sign that I've given a service to another and will then give me a service, either in the form of his or her time or a material good, in exchange for that sign embodied in the paper. I put my trust in that promise, as does almost everybody in this country, whether they realize it or not.
So, money is basically a proxy for trustworthy promises. How does that change the way we look at what happens when somebody gives me money? Ignoring basic crimes like theft or coercion and leaving charity (from my parents or otherwise) aside, I must have done something pleasing to the person or organization that gave me the money. Where did they get theirs? They must have done something pleasing to another person or organization.
This chain is visible everywhere we look. Timex has given me a dandy wristwatch. In return, I give them part of my earnings from a summer job, where I was able to make an organization happy with my research and computing skills. They were making their customers happy through their financial services, a privilege that the customers felt was worth what they paid and so on.
What is the message here? By offering a service or product of some kind that somebody, who has also pleased somebody else, finds pleasing in turn, we can all personally benefit. However, we are not all saints, and it is perfectly reasonable to give one's services to that individual that most highly rewards one's efforts. In turn, that individual is offering (or has in the past already given) highly-valued services to others.
Through this virtuous circle of rendering service to one another, we become far better off than we would be otherwise. Think of how poor our lives would be if we all had to rely solely on ourselves to obtain food, shelter and other necessities of life! By relying on the services of others, our society functions, and it supports us with among other things, luxuries like 16 years of education where we largely consume instead of produce.
Capitalism rewards those who provide highly valued services by letting them be the recipient of highly valued services. Moving from that upper echelon, however, we all offer services to one another, of varying degrees of value. Taken together, the entire cycle allows us all to live longer, do more (or less, depending on one's choice) and have the opportunity to do things undreamt of in generations past.
Trust and service: These make the world go 'round.
