"Capitalism is what made America Great", was one of the campaign slogans that the Republican Flushing District 20 City Council candidate, now councilman-elect Peter Koo, repeated again and again once he finally began to attend the campaign forums. It's one of those cliches that don't get explained because it's assumed that its so obvious that everyone understands it. Once you accept the cliche, then your mind must make the leap that capitalism made America great, Peter Koo is the biggest capitalist running in the race, therefore, capitalism has made Peter Koo great. The next leap is since capitalism has made Peter Koo rich -- er, great - that by electing a rich man you will somehow share in his riches or greatness.
He told a classic story of "rags to riches" -- he came from Hong Kong to the United States with little money in his pocket, and was able to work his way through college at Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds, and become a pharmacist. I think that feat alone qualifies for greatness. To arrive without English language skills and find a job that many already here are competing for, is great. To take that low wage job and not only pay his rent, buy food (well maybe he ate at Dunkin and McDonald's) pay carfare, is great; but to pay for an university education with it, to become a pharmacist -- the mind boggles at his greatness. Forget Warren Buffet. If Mr. Koo can just share this secret, the poor and the working class of Flushing can find a way to remain here after all. From empty pockets to five or six pharmacies. How? There have been other Chinese pharmacists, and Chinese drugstores. What is Peter Koo's secret for success, that he thrives even after two Duane Reades open in the community? Yes, there is his personal charisma and the care he shows his customers; but he is not a boddhisatva that can appear in all six stores at once. If it's hard work alone, then every waiter would become a restaurant owner in a few years; every construction worker a developer, everyone earning money with a mahjong tables in their livingroom would become casino owners.
So far, it hasn't happened like that in Flushing. Those who work hard for low wages continue to work hard; those who have attained the middle class life are often a few paychecks away from poverty should they have a health crisis or be laid off. And it's not just Flushing -- never was there a time when so much wealth in New York City itself has been funnelled upwards, under the leadership of our billionaire Republican Mayor Bloomberg. Never has the divide between the rich and the rest of us been so wide.
How did we get here? Did capitalism REALLY make America great -- or did it make a select group rich? Does rich = great? Are your financial woes connected to their financial success?
Did the stolen land of the Native Americans and the free labor of slaves for hundreds of years, have something to do with the success of capitalism in America? Is there a similarity today, to the "ruling class" of Flushing, and the underpaid labor of the undocumented workers? Would the wealthy Chinese in the community be as wealthy if they had to pay their workers the same rates that American workers would get for the same job?
