A Capitalist

Karl Marx hated capitalists and believed their money should be taken from them and redistributed to the masses. What is a capitalist? Where do they come from? Why are they so hated?

When I got my first paper route Pappa took me to the National Bank of Detroit on the corner of Vernor and Springwells. He helped me open a bank account. He said I should save some money every time I got some. I followed his advice. When I got to Henry Ford Trade School they had the same philosophy as Pappa, save some of your pay every week. I already had the habit so nothing changed. I had a savings account and it continued to grow. Savings are only postponed consumption, sometime in the future it is spent on something. I did spend some of it when I bought my first used car.

After a few years the savings grew, I was able to buy a new car and get married. Savings declined but the saving habit continued, consumption postponed for another day. The savings came in handy when the kids started to arrive. Eventually, they grew up and left to manage their own lives. The savings began to grow as I worked long hours, six days a week and sometimes on Sunday.

Now comes the interesting part, investing the savings. What to do with this money in the bank? Interest in a savings account is very low. Buying bonds that yield a higher interest rate is a good alternative. However, their is greater risk that the money might not be returned. Buying stock that pays a dividend gives a greater yield but the risk is greater. Buying growth stocks has even higher risk but the potential for a higher return is greater. I went through them all and got comfortable with various risks and returns. My savings are otherwise known as capital. Sometimes I totally lost the capital I had put into an investment. Sometimes the payoff was large, sometimes even doubled. Eventually, I learned what to avoid and what to support. Some capitalist are small in in the size of their accounts, some are very large, some are very, very large.

It is possible to say that I am a capitalist, just as it is possible to say that to everyone that has savings that wants his money to earn a return is a capitalist. Some capitalists are small in the size of their accounts, some are very large, some are very, very large. Capitalism is an economic system that uses the capital of individuals to the benefit of the individuals. The capitalist develops large companies, which in turn hire many people to accomplish a benefit to society. As the companies get larger they hire more people who themselves, if they postpone consumption and save, may also become capitalists.

Karl Marx wrote about his desire to take away capital from the capitalists and redistribute it. Hilary Clinton and Obama want to actually take capital away from capitalists and redistribute it. It is amazing to me that there are people who do not understand that this is simply stealing. Instead, they actively promote that distribution and call it fairness. How is it fair? What gives them the right to do this deed?