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Fierce Conservative: The “Evils” of Capitalism

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A blogumn by Brian Pelfrey

We learned the basics in elementary school; two plus two equals four, George Washington was the Father of our country, and…what else? Oh yeah! The Transcontinental Railroad was a triumph of the American can-do spirit. We heard about Chinese laborers struggling to build the Central Pacific Railroad over the mountains, of Union soldiers working alongside freed slaves to lay track across the plains. We were told of the glorious meeting in Promontory, Utah, of the famed Golden Spike that symbolically–and actually–joined them, and of the opening of the west. The story can still bring us to tears.

Of course, we now realize that the towns through which this project traveled were either non-existent or not economical for rail service. The railroad’s primary owners were the recipients of government grants and subsidies, legislators and their friends got their hands into the purse, the track was poorly laid and had to be almost entirely rebuilt, cost overruns were epic, the railroad was often unserviceable, inordinate numbers of workers died in the making of it, and after multiple failures and sell-offs, the Union Pacific-Central Pacific has never operated profitably. Ghost towns, successive bankruptcies, and congressional corruption–these are the fruit of collectivism; and yet this project is remembered as a shining example of “what Americans can do collectively when we put our minds to it.” Sure.

We learned little or nothing in school about the other transcontinental railroad. The Great Northern was built through towns in need of rail shipping, based on the viability of their markets, was privately funded, connected the Great Lakes to the Puget Sound, operates at a profit to this day, and single-handedly built the city of Seattle. The problem with the Great Northern was the lack of congressional involvement, thus the failure of congressmen to get a personal piece of the action, in spite of their attempts at extortion and interference. Service, satisfaction, prosperity, profitability, and butterscotch pudding for everyone–these are the “evils” of Capitalism. Yet its owner and builder, J.J. Hill, is remembered by history as a malicious profiteer who got filthy rich off the backs of the northern frontiersmen. Yep.

In spite of this, our representatives continue to “inspire” us with “visionary” projects that call upon our collective will, and siphon our collective wealth, to instigate one flaming disaster after another (including wars), hyping their “leadership” and condemning us to indebtedness and historical revision for all eternity. There will be other Promontories, more Golden Spikes, and repeatedly our fearless lawmakers will wield the sledgehammer, rear back, swing, and miss. The most visionary thing we could do collectively is to collectively abandon such collective projects.

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Photo Credit: Shawn S. Ide