Huffington Magazine Issue 71 | Page 34

Voices However, the alternatives to capitalism have all been tried and all been found wanting — some, like communism, catastrophically so. So capitalism, with all its faults, is the only game in town. The task confronting the present generation of leaders is to improve on it, to build on its strengths and eradicate its weaknesses. The challenge is to hold on to the energy, enterprise and creativity that characterize capitalism at its best, while doing away with its destructive elements. If too many people feel excluded from the system and cannot access its benefits, they will ultimately rebel against it. It was sentiments like this that motivated the understandable but incoherent anger of global movements like the Arab Spring, Madrid’s Los Indignados and Occupy Wall Street. Unfortunately the Ginni index of wealth disparity is in many places still increasing, with China now exceeding the US. I believe that the financial crisis of 2008/9 exposed more a lack of ethics and morality — especially by the financial sector — rather than a problem of regulation or criminality. There were, of course, regulatory lessons to be learned, but at heart there was a collective PAUL POLMAN HUFFINGTON 10.20.13 loss of our moral compass. Too many put self-interest ahead of the interest of the greater good. ]