Originally posted 4/14/2009 on AuthenticOrganizations.com. Yet, still relevant. Still.
I just got done commenting on the blog of my colleague and blogging buddy Michael Roberto, a strategy professor at Bryant University. Michael blogged today about his concern that Americans (and by extension, students in the Business Schools where many of us teach) have lost faith in Capitalism.
Michael’s answer to this problem, in so many words, is that
“As educators, we should never flinch from teaching that capitalism is far superior to socialism, while acknowledging that people of different political affiliations may have different views on the form of capitalism that should be employed.”
Should I have been surprised to find myself writing 300+ words in reply?
Probably not. I know my views on Capitalism (and by extension, democratic socialism) are not as common in the business schools where I have learned and taught as they are in the political science and philosophy departments where my views were first formed.
Moreover, I recognize that I was probably the only Darden faculty member ever to receive anonymous feedback from a student that “People who don’t believe in Capitalism shouldn’t be allowed to teach in a business school.”
Apparently being married to a Harvard MBA, getting a 4.0 in my MBA Finance course, having a PhD from a Business School, owning stocks and amassing property wasn’t enough to establish my street cred as a believer in Capitalism. Which is, in the end, fine with me. Why? Because —
It’s less important to be a believer than it is to be someone who understands.
And, it is less important to accept what Capitalism as practice has to offer us, than it is to consider how to adjust, reform, and apply Capitalism to make the world a better place.
I’m pasting most of Michael’s post, as well as my reply, below, for your enjoyment. Please do check out Michael’s blog directly… not because I agree with him most of the time (I generally do) but also because he has useful insights on a wide range of business & strategy issues.
I’d love your thoughts on these issues… if you share them in the Comments, below, I’ll incorporate them in my upcoming discussions of Progressive Organizational Movements…
Rasmussen released a shocking poll last week about Americans’ views regarding capitalism and socialism. Here’s an excerpt from their report:
Only 53% of American adults believe capitalism is better than socialism.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 20% disagree and say socialism is better. Twenty-seven percent (27%) are not sure which is better.
Adults under 30 are essentially evenly divided: 37% prefer capitalism, 33% socialism, and 30% are undecided.
These numbers clearly reflect some disenchantment associated with the poor economy. Still, these data startle and worry me. Do young people truly understand what socialism means? Do they recognize that, throughout our history, well-meaning Americans of all political stripes have worked very hard to build and defend our system of democratic capitalism. This economic and political system has brought freedom and posterity to many parts of the world. Socialism has brought nothing but ruin, and with it has often come dictatorship and oppression. As an educator, I worry that perhaps we are not teaching our young people the critical lessons of history. As educators, we should never flinch from teaching that capitalism is far superior to socialism, while acknowledging that people of different political affiliations may have different views on the form of capitalism that should be employed.
Posted by Michael Roberto at 4/14/2009
Here’s my comment:
Michael,
I have a few problems with this research/poll, only one of which you mention. Very few Americans actually know
(1) what Socialism is,
(2) how Socialism works,
(3) how Socialism works in a democracy,
(4) how Socialism differs from Communism, and
(5) how Capitalism actually works.
Given these 5 points of ignorance, it’s hard to imagine that a poll of average Americans tells us anything about whether they prefer Socialism to Capitalism, or which is inherently better. It’s like those surveys about the number of Americans who don’t believe in evolution. Those surveys indicate not a failure of evolution, but a failure of *education*.
It’s hard to “know” that Capitalism is “better” than Socialism, when both are practiced in a democracy. Where democratic socialism is practiced, there is more gender equality, less social stratification, lower infant mortality, longer life spans, higher literacy, better healthcare and so on. Are these indicators of failure? I don’t think so; ymmv.
When I teach international students– you know, students from countries with democratic socialist governments & parties — I am always careful not to denigrate the values on which democratic socialism is based. The execution may be flawed (as so often is the execution of capitalism), but the values are to be respected (whether or not one disagrees).
We have in business schools right now a very serious parochialism about how capitalism should be executed (e.g., the ‘which variety’ question) and we also have a severe/obstinate resistance to analyzing how and where captialism as practiced in the US is flawed/letting us down.
I don’t think that the answer is to step up to the challenge of teaching students that captialism is far superior to socialism. I think that the better strategy is to teach students how to get in touch with their values, how to analyze systems, how to separate ideology from data, and how to make the world a better place.
Remember, I share will you a faith in the metaproject… even if we disagree on tactics.
Your thoughts? Please join in. …
