For all life has to offer, choose capitalism

The country is more divided now than ever, specifically on the issue of smaller or bigger government. Greedy people on Wall Street and an assortment of other corporations have lost the trust of the American people, and now the federal government. The private sector is cutting jobs left and right in response to the recession, and people are mad about that as well. Democrats and Republicans can point fingers of blame at each other, but that isn't going to solve anything. If we want to place blame on anyone for the unfortunate circumstances we're in, don't blame the private sector as a whole. Blame the federal government, including both political parties, for getting too involved or not knowing how to get involved.

GM and other auto giants in Detroit are looking to file for bankruptcy, or worse, complete surrender of power to the national government. Who would have ever thought that GM would go belly up? At one time they were the leading automakers in the world, and further proved the worth of American innovation and free markets. The private sector has single-handedly made the U.S. the most powerful country over the last century. Our country is younger than most of our serious competitors such as China, Russia, or even nations in the European Union. Yet we've managed to become the wealthiest nation in the world with an inherently strong economy, competitive nature and drive. The biggest difference between our economic structure and theirs is we don't have a centrally-controlled economy.

Markets fail and thrive everyday, on all levels throughout the country. When one corporation or business fails to meet the demands of the consumer, another one take's it place. To put this into retrospect, remind yourself of when Winn-Dixie went bankrupt and closed all stores. Employees that worked at these stores either moved to Harris Teeter or Food Lion, or found jobs elsewhere. Another example is Alltel being bought out by Verizon Wireless. Alltel simply couldn't compete against AT&T and Sprint, so Verizon saw an opportunity and acted on it. The point of these two examples is that the private sector and consumers have a better understanding of how to allocate resources, time, and money. People simply weren't interested in buying expensive gas guzzling GM cars, so they turned to Honda and Toyota.

The hatred from the left-wing toward corporations over the last 10 years or so is completely unjustified. It appears that liberals have completely forgotten the sole purpose of a business: to make money. How they decide to make that money is up to them. If Starbucks decides to close 200 stores in order to build new ones in locations that would be successful, they have that right. Of course, businesses aren't perfect and sometimes need to make serious changes in their day-to-day operations, and that's where the government may step in. For example, instead of completely buying up GM or Chrysler, how about provide them with money for research and development to mass produce hybrid and fuel-efficient vehicles? These auto companies simply don't have the money to further their growth in these areas. Japan and China are determined to be the leaders in electric and hybrid cars; let's beat them to that. Let's prove to the world the United States still has what it takes to be the world leader. We can do this without tanks and missiles, without stimulus checks, and without a centrally-controlled economy.

Every single person that is hoping to graduate at UNCG, or any other university throughout the country is a capitalist. The goal for all of us is to find a well-paying job, buy a nice house, a nice car, and live out the American Dream that has been instilled into our brains since birth. We understand the value of knowledge and education, and how that can help us be better citizens in our country and communities. You may call yourself a socialist or welfare aficionado, but you're still fundamentally a capitalist. At the end of the day, you want to earn your paycheck, spend it how you please, and feel good about it. We're a consumer society, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Give capitalism a chance, and it'll give you a chance in return.