To many it is an ethically repugnant system based primarily on human selfishness and greed. But market capitalism is unquestionably the most successful economic system ever invented. It has given the western world the highest material standard of living in human history and made the United States in particular the richest, most technologically advanced and most powerful nation of all time.

Moral philosophers and religious thinkers may denounce the materialistic age it has created as shallow, false and ultimately unsatisfying. But mankind as a whole apparently finds this brave new world irresistible. In every society where they have been allowed to do so the masses have embraced McDonalds, Nike and MTV. Apparently everywhere wants to be like America, including Jamaica. The major components of our new mindscape - cars, computers, cellulars and cable - are no different from the rest of the globalized earth’s.

Yet like many other countries Jamaica has a schizophrenic attitude towards capitalism. While we covet America’s riches, we are unwilling to embrace the free market philosophy which has created this wealth. Capitalism in the USA – at least in theory - means competition and opportunity. For most Jamaicans capitalism is another name for the exploitation of the poor small man by rich big businessmen.

In a country with our history this is hardly surprising. For folk memories are long, and there has never been a more abusive economic system than plantation slavery. Sugar estate owners treated slaves as nothing more than a factor of production existing only to increase profits. Competition among plantations meant getting the most work out of slaves at the lowest cost of feeding them. And the only opportunity that existed for slaves was the blessed relief of an early death.

Things may have improved after emancipation. But how could a people who had been deliberately kept illiterate and uneducated for hundreds of years compete on an equal footing with their former masters? And for most of our history big business was synonymous with plantation owners, who were hardly equal opportunity employers interested in their workers’ welfare. From Bogle to Bustamante, Jamaican workers have literally had to fight for their rights.

In short, it is bitter experience which makes many Jamaicans distrust capitalists and view government as a protector against exploitative businessmen and industrialists. The average worker here has too often seen the invisible hand become a crushing fist to have much faith in the market.

Not that Jamaican businessmen on the whole can be truly called free market capitalists. For their most common reaction when faced with competition is to also run to the government for protection. And Jamaica like all small countries has been prone to ‘monopolism’. Meaning that once a company is well established in a sector the limited size of the market often makes it very difficult for rivals to compete economically. And of course lack of competition nearly always leads to price and quality exploitation.

The soft drink industry is an excellent case in point. About five years ago when Desnoes and Geddes almost completely dominated the market, a two litre bottle of Pepsi-cola cost over $60 Jamaican or roughly two dollars American. But competition to D&G from people like Coke and Bigga has lowered the cost to as little as $30 or about sixty six cents American, a real price decrease of more than 60%.

And this is far from an isolated example. It is true that our manufacturers and farmers have suffered grievously from low priced foreign imports. But our consumers have certainly benefited from greater choice and lower prices. Like most of the world Jamaica eats more and better today than it ever has, and at a lower cost. Looking at only one side of an equation can never give an accurate picture.

At any rate globalization is a fact of life which no one can change. Jamaicans are faced with a simple choice – either we cut back on our consumption of foreign goods, or we become competitive enough to sell enough of our own goods abroad to pay for those we are importing. But our industries will certainly not be able to compete if the government does not provide a proper infrastructure and investment friendly climate.

The truth is that no Jamaican government since at least 1972 has been actively pro-business in the sense of understanding what factors make businesses successful and trying to create an environment facilitating these aspects. The 1970s Manley government was openly anti-business. The 1980s Seaga regime seemed to believe more in statism rather than market capitalism. And while both the 1990s Manley and Patterson regimes considerably liberalized the economy, their pronouncements and actions gave the impression that they did so reluctantly and still had no real trust in the private sector. Even now the present cabinet of eighteen ministers does not contain a single successful businessman.

Liberal democracy in most advanced countries consists in practice of alternating productive pro-business regimes with distributive pro-worker governments - one focusing on growing the pie, the other on sharing it up. Over prolonged or too extreme periods of ‘Capitalism’ are apt to concentrate wealth in the hands of a few, leading to resentment among the many and often revolution or civil war. While very extended or excessively ideological stretches of ‘Socialism’ keep cutting up the pie into smaller and smaller slices until everyone has an equal share of misery. It is no accident that nearly every successful and stable democracy regularly rotates right of center and left of centre governments.

But like many third world countries Jamaica has ended up with two left of center main parties. Because of the electorate’s historical antipathy towards the business sector, both the PNP and the JLP since 1972 have continually propounded distributive messages. And the country has suffered for it. In 1972 Jamaica’s average per capita GNP was 54% of the world average. This had fallen to 31% by 1980, where it remains to this day.

They say if you can’t beat them join them. And if we Jamaicans want to enjoy the fruits of the globalization age - or even survive in it - our government, our private sector, and our workers are going to have to learn to trust the market. Those at the top will obviously have to take the lead. We need both businessmen who truly believe in dealing with competition by becoming more efficient and politicians who genuinely try to facilitate competitiveness and reward initiative. But we also need to realize as a people that you can’t have your cake and eat it too. changkob@hotmail.com