CORPORATE CAPITALISM

The Rev. Dana Prom Smith, S.T.D., Ph.D. (8/4/08)

It's verboten to say anything negative about capitalism and capitalists in modern America, the thesis being that democracy and capitalism are tantamount to the same thing. The problem is that Exxon Mobil has no resemblance at all to a New England Town Meeting.

My caveat about corporate capitalism and capitalists is simple. They can't be trusted in small things, like credits on my bank card. If I buy anything using my bank card, the amount is deducted immediately from my account, but if I return it for a credit, it will take anywhere from five days to three weeks to get my money back. Now, some capitalist has had my money interest free all that time.

Jesus said that if a person could be trusted in small things, then he or she could be trusted over much. The contrary is: if they can't be trusted in small things, they can't be trusted over much. I've often wondered how many people just give up with the corporate flim-flam and never get their money back. As one spokesperson said, "Sometimes our computers don't work well with credits." Well, they work well with deductions.

I've confronted managers, accountants, and supervisors. They all blame the ubiquitous system. One of them said, "It was only $25.00." Well, it was my $25.00. How many times have other $25.00 been multiplied by these recalcitrant systems that don't like credits. Caveat Emptor! There's a system out there that likes your money but doesn't like you or your credits.