Two years ago I was sitting in the Phnom Penh Airport. My traveling comrade was drinking beer. Chang 7-11% alcohol. He’s English. I waited for our flight to Bangkok at the gate. Two men sat behind me. One was European. The other American. They were arguing about capitalism.

“There is only one form of capitalism and that’s free market capitalism.” The American was a businessman. His accent was New York. The stock market was running strong.

“There are many forms of capitalism.” The European expounded on the benefits of state capitalism a la Sweden.

“That’s not capitalism. That’s ‘s socialism.”

“Just another economic formula.”

“That’s failed.” The American was in his 40s. He was probably over in Cambodia for an NGO trying to revitalize the economy. I guesses that he had attended classes at Harvard. His haircut gave away his beliefs. Very close to the bone. We are not at war.”

‘There is only one kind of capitalism and that’s free market.” The American slammed the day-old Herald Tribune into his palm. “Anything else is communism.”

Normally I would have told him to shut the fuck up, except I was nursing myself through a nervous breakdown. Economics were superseded by the drive for sanity. I wish that was true for the forces of capitalism, however greed overtook sound business policies and 2009 finds free-market capitalism under attack like a blooded doe hounded by hungry wolves.

Free-market proponents of the National Review and GOP swear that the policy is not dead, citing the Dow Jones resurgence. Anyone still buying stocks on the NYSE has yet to see that the emperor isn’t wearing any clothes. He’s nude and even worse a fat fuck. GM is dead. AIG can pay off the claims of the Hudson River crash. Budweiser sucks as a beer and the movie industry hasn’t come up with a good movie this summer.

Comrades get ready to take over.

Comrades get ready to take over.

The red flag is ready to fly and this time there will be no Stalin.