If you want to know what radical leftists think about capitalism, free markets, and entrepreneurship, read the website of The Nation magazine, which has announced the winners of its annual student writing contest. Among the finalists is UNC Chapel Hill student Matthew Hickson, who will receive $200 for an essay about what he thinks is the most important issue facing his generation. Mr. Hickson is described as “a proud feminist and community activist” who is majoring in business and minoring in women’s studies and social and economic justice.
And here is what Mr. Hickson believes, which leads me to suggest he take an economics course from Duke Professor Mike Munger and speak to anyone who has lived under a collectivist government.
Today growing wealth inequality both within nations and across global political boundaries has hampered economic stability and democratic representation. Multinational corporations continue making record profits while people are left without work. Governments (under pressure from international financial institutions) have allowed companies like Monsanto and BP to externalize costs to the public, often in the form of pollution, which has left our environment on the brink of ruin and tax evasion which has drained collective wealth from citizens. This has left little public funding available for community initiatives, hampering the development of community economies and leaving populations fractured and disenfranchised. Corporate capitalism has reshaped the global order—transcending national boundaries, privatizing collectively owned resources and extracting profits from those with minimal agency. Its proponents simultaneously exploit old inequalities and create new ones.
My generation must take on the task of building strong community economies and re-establishing collective wealth for all people. This will advance equality and diversify our social and economic possibilities. We must create a space for community empowerment, provide collective tools for community development and change the playing field to nurture scalable, community-based economic connections. Creating structural economic change along the lines of the reforms mentioned above will not be possible through existing systems of political actions. It will require a groundswell of grassroots economic activity, and a breadth of government support to nurture this radical economic transition.
