The Story of Capitalism That’s Never Been Told

Andy Snyder|July 8, 2021

This is the story of capitalism that’s never been told.

We know that because this tale came true only yesterday. That’s when the trooper called our cellphone and gave us the news we’d prayed for.

“Mr. Snyder… this is corporal so-and-so.”

We made up his name because we never got it.

“We just wanted to say thank you. The young man was right where your wife said she saw him. He’s in bad shape, but alive. We took him to the hospital. Please send her our sincerest thank you.”

The emotionally unstable man had been missing for nearly three days.

By an odd coincidence, we saw him on the street just minutes after he walked away from his house… presumably for the last time.

He didn’t look well as we slowly drove by. He clearly didn’t want to be seen.

Two days later, we saw his face on the news. It turns out we were one of the last folks to see him before he’d disappeared… perhaps for good.

When we showed his picture to Mrs. Manward, she said, “That’s the guy I saw in the field.”

She’d seen him a full day after we had.

We picked up the phone, and two hours later, Mrs. Manward was in a cornfield showing the “really good-looking” detectives where she saw him.

“Thanks for the tip,” they said. “We’ll look around.”

Thirty minutes later, we got the phone call. He was still where she’d seen him… slowly fading away.

A life was saved. And, once again, this odd life of ours handed us something fresh to write about.

Bigger Than Greed

It’s an odd connection, but this tale says a lot about community, empathy and the capitalistic drive.

Growing up in the business world, we always heard the same refrain about capitalism – that humans are innately selfish.

Some are. But they’re just jerks.

Most folks – like the ones who were searching for that troubled young man – have a different motivation.

It may look selfish to the uninformed. But those who bother to think about it soon see that most folks just want to make tomorrow better than today.

The best of the lot want to bring prosperity by will… not by force.

That’s true capitalism.

But the term has gotten itself in trouble. As usual, we blame the TV.

In 1987, Gordon Gekko said, “Greed is good.” And since he was the main character in a hit movie called Wall Street, lots of folks believed him. Many still do.

But, as usual, Hollywood lied.

It took a complex idea and turned it into a movie trailer.

The truth is much more complex… and much more enduring to the human spirit.

Capitalism, any successful businessman will tell you, isn’t about greed. It’s about putting others first.

That idea is antithetical to most modern teachings. But we dare anybody to disprove it. Show us a successful, enduring company that didn’t make something better, cheaper or more useful for its customers.

Show us a company that succeeded by putting the company first… by putting greed into its mission statement.

It doesn’t exist… or, if it does, it won’t for long.

It Takes a Town

The government may think it’s helping voters and the economy they create by pulling on the reins here and whipping the mare’s rump there, but it does little good.

The scars of government regulation are carved deep into the economic landscape.

The nation’s failing utility grid has been stymied by regulation gone bad. Our food sector is corrupted by silly laws and half-cocked rules. The anti-pollution industry has become so large… it’s now a leading producer of pollution.

Don’t believe us?

Just ask the mechanic who spends 60% of his time replacing “emission reducing” parts. The truck that brings the part to the shop likely creates more pollution delivering it than the part would ever save. And that’s not to mention the oil, energy and pollution it took to make the part… and its replacement.

Anybody who wants to argue otherwise simply hasn’t pulled their head far enough away from their TV to think for themselves or to see the world for what it truly is.

That’s why the tale of that young man is so powerful.

It allows us to tell the story of capitalism and the empathy that drives us without mentioning the notion of greed.

It wasn’t us who saved that young man. It wasn’t Mrs. Manward… the trooper… the paramedic… the ER staff… or any single person that day.

It was a system built on the idea that tomorrow should be better than today.

We learned the man was missing when we saw his picture in the news. The news reported the story when they heard the police had asked the community for help. We called the police not out of a notion of greed… but because we believe a stranger is more worthy of our time than a buck in our pocket.

The troopers brought us footage to view from the local town’s store not because they’d get a bonus for solving the case… but because it was the right thing to do.

Sure, lots of people got paid for their time along the way. The troopers, the doctors and the dispatchers all have an economic reason to show up each morning.

But it’s not greed that ultimately motivates them.

They simply believe that tomorrow should be better than today.

That’s how the economy works. That’s what makes it all go ’round.

It took a town to find that lost fella.

Some folks got paid. Some didn’t. Some worked harder than others. And some will get their name in the lights.

But pull one cog from that machine… or inject just one useless regulation… and the whole darn thing would have jammed up.

A man would have likely died.

The more we fight that notion… the more we vote for folks who believe some people’s days are already good enough… the more trouble we’ll create.

We’re seeing it all across the land.

But I know one patch of land where a slew of folks didn’t fall into the trap.

They did what was right – even if it was “just their job” – to save a man’s life.

They all knew that everybody’s tomorrow deserves to be better than their today.