Perspectives of a Wanderer

While checking out anything new on the The Distributist Review, the entry The Midas Touch caught my attention.

In the entry, it goes on about the Capital quest for “Financial Wealth” can, and actually destroys, Real Wealth.    One section sums this up:

Now, it is not my place to tell the villagers what they should do. It is neither my village nor my country, and these are decisions which only the people of Rosia Montana and the government of Romania can make. But whether the villagers decide to stay or go, the decision they make is a sign and symbol of something much wider, and part of something much greater. To be specific, it is part of a great joke about capitalism. But it is a joke that no one seems to get. So here is the punchline: Rosia Montana is a place of great natural wealth, BUT THERE IS NO INCOME (as one of the villagers in the film put it). Now, here is a place that has received every gift that a loving God could bestow on any piece of ground: mountains full of minerals, valleys full of farms, pastures full of animals, rivers full of fish. It is a place that could—and has—supported tens of thousands in peace and prosperity, but under capitalism, it cannot provide work for a thousand. An area that should be prosperous and happy becomes an area of forced idleness. There is wealth, real wealth, but there are no jobs, and people, young people especially—that is, the future—feel they must leave. And if they leave with a few Euros provided by the Canadians, who can blame them?

This shows the conflict between Capitalism’s thirst for “Financial Wealth” and Real Wealth.  “Financial wealth” is about greed for a few while real wealth is about providing for the many.   This is how screwed up the world is these days.  In addition, the article goes on to recount how the quest for “financial wealth” in one area can destroy real wealth in a much wider area.  The example given, a gold mine in Baia Mare in northern Romania, is eerily similar to the similar to what can happen in Rosia Montana.

This is a prime example of why I am now against Capitalism, especially Global Capitalism, in its present state and now call myself a Distributist.

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