Yay Capitalism (Sis Boom Bah)
349 words. Letter to the editor.
I would like to offer an antidote to income- and wealth-inequality: relax and become a true Capitalist.
People with an agenda that depends on the illusion of an uncrossable class divide will tell you that Capitalism is the problem, and that the poor must unite behind some collectivist organization and engage in constant struggle against owners—landlords, business owners, and anyone else with any wealth at all. My simple advice is not aimed at the ideologues who would promote endless struggle as though labor and capital can never be reconciled.
For the non-ideologues who would simply like to have a better life: tune out the rhetoric for a moment and take one small step toward being an owner. Contrary to rumor, capital is not evil. There is a river of interest and dividends flowing from capital, and you only have to dip your cup in that river to get a portion of it.
There is a catch. You have to buy the cup.
More and more banks and brokerages are offering investment products for people with little money. It is true that bank savings account and CDs pay very little nowadays. But isn’t “very little” better than zero? Brokerages offer the ability to buy fractional shares of stock, and commissions for retail investors are low to non-existent now. That means that you can invest as little as five dollars in a company or in a group of companies. You will participate in the growth of those companies as well as in quarterly dividends.
If the suggestion to invest five dollars causes you to have a spasm and emit angry arguments, then you have a problem other than low income and low net worth.
Anti-Capitalists will sneeringly rephrase my advice as: “The poor should just go buy some money.” I agree with the words, but not the sneer. If you buy something that you then own, and that produces an income stream, then you have bought future money. The future will arrive whether you make investments or not.
The money stream is flowing. Come on in, the water is fine.
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This work was published in The Blade on June 11, 2021.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.