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ARE YOU A CAPITALIST?
Kathlyn Q. Barrozo
Class of 1991, University of Santo Tomas
B.S. Medical Technology
Putting up a business? Contemplating on optimizing your education in business and your capital resources with
a company of your own? You could very well be on your way to either capitalism--or entrepreneurship.
Owning a business is degrees away from working as an employee in one. A business owner is able to make
decisions for his company. He doesn’t need to justify them for anybody. He just needs to make sure that all his
options have been studied carefully before he makes a choice. His business is completely his own.
Despite the fact that numerous labor organizations have constantly attached a not-so-positive tag to it,
capitalism remains a concept that has allowed the survival of the fittest and the early demise of the less stout-
hearted. It is a fact that capitalists always look for ways by which they can increase their margins of profit,
notwithstanding the potential ‘harm’ it can ultimately cause to smaller, weaker individuals. Poorer nations are
at the mercy of their richer cousins. What the capitalist deems as legal and doable will often clash with what
the weaker ones consider humane. It is not how you make it, but how fast you are able to. Capitalists hold the
magic wand, and what they say goes.
Globalization has given rise to the strong emergence of capitalism in many countries. Those who have the
capital have the power to influence the fates, so to speak. If they feel they’re not making enough profits from a
certain business, all they have to do is think of another way to invest their money. Although promises like “The
new management will absorb all existing employees”, or “ The restructuring program will not affect those who
have been in their posts for so-and-so years”, most companies want to try “new blood” for expansions or
streamlining. Who would want former employees who are bound to demand higher pay and are virtually
untrainable in newer technology to handle jobs that fresh graduates can excel in? And with less pay?
We have to consider the views of capitalism as being justifiable for the capitalists themselves. Really, who
would want losing propositions anyway? You don’t get into business only to lose money, but to achieve the
exact opposite. That’s why capitalists are called such: they are out to gain profits and not lose even their capital.
Entrepreneurship is perhaps the most effective solution to the ills of capitalism. As opposed to capitalism,
entrepreneurship espouses starting small and growing from there. An entrepreneur seeks advancement, but in
more realizable and smaller increments. But how many are indeed courageous enough to try it?
Are you?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1.
Differentiate between capitalism and entrepreneurship.
2.
What are the benefits of starting small? Starting big?
3.
Can you name famous capitalists in your country? Name famous entrepreneurs.
4.
What, in your opinion, set apart capitalism-geared companies from entrepreneurship-inspired ones?
5.
Which would you rather be, a capitalist or an entrepreneur? Justify your answer.