Writing for the Socialist Alternative, Varun Belor laments the failure of Seattle’s City Council to pass a rent control ordinance. Belor notes that none of the council’s eight Democrats supported the bill, and for more than forty years the Democrat dominated state legislature has upheld Washington’s ban on rent control. Democrats, Belor claims are “stooges” for Wall Street.
This is just one example of the false alternative of Main Street versus Wall Street. That alternative is founded on the premise that one supports “the people” or one supports “the elites.” This implies a conflict between blue-collar workers and financiers. In truth, there is no such conflict. Financiers make a better life possible for blue-collar workers.
Financiers make it possible for many—probably most—Americans to purchase a new automobile, a house, major appliances, and countless other values. Without Wall Street, Main Street would be as desolate as a ghost town.
More importantly, Wall Street makes plentiful jobs available for blue-collar workers. Financiers enable businesses to build a factory, purchase equipment, expand a showroom, and improve every other business activity. To put it colloquially, Wall Street makes it possible for more and better pies to be created, enabling everyone to have a slice.
To socialists, the number and size of pies can’t be increased. To them, the issue is how to distribute a static quantity of pies. And their solution invariably involves placing controls and restrictions on producers, including financiers.
Production has primacy. We cannot consume food, automobiles, housing, or any other value until it has been created. Those who value their life should appreciate the financial institutions that make large-scale production possible. We should express our gratitude. We should all be “stooges” for Wall Street.