Tepper is unwittingly supporting Marxist views of the intrinsic course of the development of capitalism. I have no doubt that this is because of his education about such matters that were restricted to ideological interpretations of history that students are exposed to in US higher education. Thus, the author concentrates on remarks made by an early ideologist of the capitalist religion, Adam Smith and his work The Wealth of Nations.
In 1776 Adam Smith wrote “The Wealth of Nations,” and the American Continental Congress declared independence from Britain. Smith complained bitterly about monopolies. He wrote of the East India Company: “… the monopoly which our manufacturers have obtained … has so much increased the number of some particular tribes of them, that, like an overgrown standing army, they have become formidable to the government, and upon many occasions intimidate the legislature.”The elites at the eve of the American Revolution found that the British Crown's monopoly of the East India Company and other restrictions by the British (because they saw America as a colony that should serve the British Empire) interfered with their businesses interests. These early American elites like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison had control of a very rich continent, but they were faced with two major problems: they were bound by British restrictions which limited their exploitation of these riches. The other major obstacle was that labor was necessary to acquire these riches. Earlier they made up for this lack by importing slaves from Africa. At some point this American ruling class saw the need to establish their own nation in order to obtain the riches and power they thought they deserved. To accomplish this they needed the help of free labor, and the latter were soon enlisted in the Revolution by such stirring propaganda pieces like the Declaration of Independence, the writings of people like Thomas Paine, and Patrick Henry. After the revolution succeeded, they quietly forgot about the radical ideas contained in these writings.
Among the reasons the Continental Congress cited for separating from Britain in the Declaration of Independence was, “For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent.” The Boston Tea Party was in response to the East India Company’s monopoly on tea.
“The Wealth of Nations” and the Declaration of Independence were bold statements against the abuses of monopoly power. Americans wanted entrepreneurial freedom to build businesses in a free market.
Tepper bemoans the development of a few giant corporations that control an industry and can ignore customer demands for service and quality. He argues that this situation is not capitalism, and thereby ignores all the Marxist literature and common sense about capitalist enterprises and their need to grow and combine in order to reduce competition. His grasp of history is that of an elementary school kid who has been fed only propaganda to justify capitalism. Hence, his regard for the system is very much like a faith-based religion: Adam Smith is Jesus Christ and The Wealth of Nations is the Bible.
