Columns

It’s not unusual to hear people say that they don’t care about politics (“don’t give a fuck” might be a more precise quote). However many times I hear it said, it never ceases to amaze me. Failing to care about politics is a fundamental misunderstanding of how we control our lives.

Politics is how we all come together to decide what kind of society we want to live in. How much freedom do we want? How much do we want the government to take care of us, or if not us, then those who are unable to take care of themselves?

Very roughly, the “right” wants government to be as small as possible, to allow people the freedom to run their own lives and force them to take responsibility for their own decisions. Laws should be limited to those required to prevent people from causing harm to others while they exercise their freedoms.

The “left” wants government to be large enough to take care of those who society and the market leave behind. They believe that people cannot be forced to take responsibility for situations that were forced upon them by the inequalities inherent in the system. The state should step in and help them.

Arguments occur when the left tries to raise the money to do so. In the mind of those on the right, the left is trying to take their hard earned money – money that they took risks to earn, and which they should be allowed to enjoy benefits of.

What the right chooses to forget is that capitalism does not care whether wealth goes to one person or one hundred. Yes, people should be rewarded for their hard work, for gaining higher education and training, and for taking risks. But the market will not decide fairly how much they should get paid, as it will always be biased to those who control wealth in the first place.

Society must collectively decide how wealth is divvied up. We cannot allow those who stand to gain the most to decide who should benefit from the system. We must make these decisions fairly and without bias.

Capitalism should not set the limits of society, but be a tool that society uses to make itself better. We all benefit from everyone being wealthier, healthier, better educated, and free from crime and violence. So care, vote, support candidates that you believe in, and if you don’t believe in any of them, run yourself.