CAPITALISM'S ACHILLES HEEL Dirty Money and How to

328 CAPITALISM’S ACHILLES HEEL
I realized years ago that I needed to come to some sort of answer to this
question in order to grasp fully what was happening in the interplay between
illegal activity and resulting poverty that I saw all around.
Marxism, which guided the affairs of billions through much of the
twentieth century, failed because of flaws built into the ideology and its application.
Within its codification as interpreted by Lenin was an internal
contradiction, a necessity that the masses be governed by an elite party,
which inevitably became corrupted. And in application the Marxist creed
ultimately could not motivate people to effort, productivity, and achievement.
Tens of millions died unnecessarily in this joyless straitjacket, and billions
more struggled through shabby, unfulfilled lives. Marxism’s departure
from respectable company is a most gratifying development.
Capitalism’s own shortcomings need to be appreciated. Even in countries
that remained outside the communist orbit, capitalism has certainly not
worked for everyone. Why? Take Adam Smith’s free-market system, forget the
ethics he knew were necessary for its proper operation, adopt instead Jeremy
Bentham’s notions of maximizing, selective sacrifice, and ends exonerating
means, lock this concoction in place for 200 years, and what results is exactly
what we have now—enormous wealth for a few, poverty for many, a structure
of illegitimacy excusing both these outcomes, and social tensions straining the
fabric of civilization. A bit of an oversimplification, admittedly, but not by
much.
Some philosophers imagine that utilitarianism is theoretically salvageable.
I seriously doubt it. It is not practically salvageable. Of this I have little
doubt. I see utilitarianism as a major contributing factor to the breathtaking
disparity that arose during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. I see little
possibility that utilitarianism will meet the tests of the twenty-first century.
Some philosophers also assert that no one remains a strict utilitarian today.
If so, no one told the capitalists themselves, who still embrace the
strong, original tenets of the system. A few of the many permutations on the
utilitarian theme have moved well beyond the philosophy’s early canons. Yet
utility remains first, and rights and justice are second, arising after utility is
maximized. Just as Marxism saps incentive, utilitarianism saps justice. It
cannot do otherwise.
One of the more damaging perversions in western thought is the comforting
idea that utility equals morality. Whatever produces the greatest advantage
is the correct thing to do. This creates a gaping hole in western ethics, big