3/2: Letter to the Editor

To the Editor, ‘ ‘ ‘ I’m writing in response to Giles Howard’s column ‘Obama’s policies strip… To the Editor, ‘ ‘ ‘ I’m writing in response to Giles Howard’s column ‘Obama’s policies strip liberties.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ I’m amazed that anyone can sit through the worst crisis of capitalism since 1929 and still claim the superiority of the free market with a straight face. ‘ ‘ ‘ Instead of telling the truth about the root causes of the financial crisis, Howard shills for finance capital and the casino capitalists on Wall Street by laying most of the blame on the ‘stupid’ and the ‘worst’ of society ‘mdash; namely the poor and minorities ‘mdash; who have been told for years that the ultimate prize in the American Dream is owning a home.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Howard then proceeds to blather on about our nation’s alleged history of free market success and entrepreneurship, with success and prosperity unimpeded by intrusive and hostile government intervention.’ This narrative is nothing more than sheer historical fantasy mixed with market mythology.’ The actions of governments in capitalist societies are never hostile to capital, but are in fact quite the opposite. They’re invariably dictated by the interests of capital. Both in the present day and throughout history this collusion between capital and the state is clearly made manifest, whether as the looting of billions of taxpayers’ dollars by Wall Street with the government’s approval or as the use of government troops by that ‘great entrepreneur’ Andrew Carnegie to suppress labor strikes. Matt Kosko School of Arts and Sciences