What Am I For?

Responding to a perturbed reader

From subscriber Paul Edwards:

Okay, good to lampoon foolishness, regardless of the source, and Democrats are now as soaked in bullshit and rot as Republicans, and your grandpa's half-assed socialism has failed and disgraced itself around the world, but what the fuck are you for, Taibbi? Anything? Have you become a convert to fucking vicious, evil, and stupid predatory Capitalism? Is that what you've decided is the wave of the future? It's hard to tell from your smarmy negativity.

It’s a fair question. I do a lot of ridiculing here and don’t advocate for much. But to answer seriously: it’s strange to ask if someone is a “convert” to “fucking vicious, evil, and stupid predatory capitalism,” since it presupposes I started out as something other than a capitalist, which most Americans (including those ostensibly socialist podcasters) naturally are. I’m certainly no zealot about it, but I favor free markets, because I like the idea of people starting their own restaurant or bank or rock band or whatever and being rewarded if they do a good job, a beautiful thing when it happens. I’m not in favor of big enterprises like Goldman Sachs or GM being backstopped by the government and insulated from failure when smaller companies don’t enjoy the same privilege. I don’t think everything should be private, and do favor some relief programs to take the harder edges off a free-market system, though I think those work better when they’re universally available. I think government should be small and prioritize protecting rights and freedoms over solving the world’s problems. In short I’m what used to be called a moderate, and believe society isn’t that far from being in great shape, if we could just calm down, find fixes for a problem or two, and learn to appreciate what we have. Hope that answers your question.