The Ethics of Capitalism - Social Europe Journal

Those who earned more would
pay a higher percentage of their
income for the benefit of the
community at large. For most of
the 20th century the progressive
income tax model was accepted
without question across the
whole of Europe. The only argument
was about how steep the
progression should be. But in
the age of market radicalism the
gangsters, especially in the former
communist states, have succeeded
in dismantling this
important part of the social
framework. And to this day all
the fine words of those who
want to ‘simplify’ the tax system
boil down to the same thing: the
abolition of progressive taxation.
Naturally the social framework
also covers everything designed
to protect employees, including
labour legislation, which balances
the interests of employers
against those of employees.
Another aspect of the framework
in Germany is co-determination
in the workplace, which has
once again proved its worth at a
time of crisis.
And finally, the environmental
framework. Its purpose is to
slow down global warming, prevent
soil pollution and erosion,
safeguard food standards, stop
overdevelopment of the countryside
and halt the extermination
of wildlife species. But
even this framework was
viewed by market radicals like
George W. Bush as just a
fiendish plot by left-wing idealogues
to put obstacles in the
way of the free market. In actual
fact this framework operates on
market principles: anything that
is environmentally harmful
must be made economically
unattractive, i.e. expensive. And
what is environmentally desirable
becomes the cheaper
option. Outright prohibitions
are the exception.
This framework remains very
much a work in progress. This
is evidenced in the half-hearted
attempts to reform the car tax,
and in the furious opposition to
environmental taxes which is
backed by a majority of the
media. The end of the marketradical
era – which has not yet
arrived for some, of course –
creates an opportunity to establish
an environmental framework
that is strong enough and
effective enough to make sustainable
development more than
just an abstract ideal.
VI. There are of course moral
reasons why such frameworks
should be established – and
therefore why the necessary legislation
should be put in place.
At the Protestant Church
Congress in Düsseldorf in 1985
the physicist and philosopher
Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker
appealed for an ecumenical
council for ‘Peace, Justice and
the Integrity of Creation’. If
‘peace’ is taken to include the
civil peace that is increasingly
under threat in many countries,
and if ‘justice’ is also understood
to mean social justice,
then the ‘conciliar process’ that
leads to peace, justice and the
integrity of creation can be seen
as the ethical basis for action
that will only be timely and
effective, as far as one can see,
if it is enshrined in legal norms.
Law needs to be underpinned
by ethical standards. The business
of politics, if it wishes to
avoid a headlong rush into disaster,
is to enact binding law
and enforce it. That is what the
state is for.
Capitalism with a minimal
state presence was the aim of
the market radicals. It is now
clear that this is not even good
for the markets. And even less
so for society, which can end up
split and divided.
The capitalist economic system,
especially in its modern
globalised form, wields a great
deal of power. It needs to be
counterbalanced by some other
form of power. This could be a
civil society that is not subject
to the laws of the market. But
even a healthy civil society
needs a functioning state that is
capable of effective action. The
fact that the market radicals
wanted to dismantle the state
and starve it of resources shows
that they did not view it as their
tool, but as an opposing power
with its own agenda, its own
sources of strength, its own
goals and values. The important
thing now is for the state to
regain the strength to create the
frameworks we need. And
where the nation state is no
longer capable of doing so, the
European Union must step in.
Before the 21st century enters
its second quarter.
Endnotes
1 Willke, Gerhard (2003),
Neoliberalismus, Campus,
Frankfurt/Main, p.151.
2 Matthew 20, v 15 – here in the
New English Bible version.
12 Social Europe Journal Summer 2009