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writing for godot

Capitalism Is Not The Problem

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Written by George Monroe   
Monday, 08 May 2017 13:52

 

There can be no real peace in the world without economic justice.  Although many noted injustices and violent wars have had their origins in capitalistic enterprises, capitalism, per se, is not the problem.  There are positive aspects to capitalism that are of great value.  It motivates.  It spurs innovation.  It induces commitment.  It rewards creative and productive behavior.

However, capitalism that is not regulated by moral imperatives and follows a course of profits above all is ultimately destructive. It inevitably leads to hostility.  It often results in deadly conflict. It is toxic to peace because it is exclusive and excluding.  Without peace, the human, technological, and spiritual resources needed for supporting the good life and human progress are sinfully wasted.

Only inspired democratic systems can offer the creativity and commit the resources that will be needed for obtaining an equitable and sustainable peace. Dictatorships of any kind, religious, scientific, governmental, or corporate can’t find ways to make peace because they shut down the free flow of information and limit access to universal truths.  Change that is brought about by overwhelming force, shock and awe, and the power of elites tends to put a lock on things and promote the status quo.

Human beings alive today are on a journey.  Like it or not, we are all traveling on the same vehicle, Planet Earth.  And we are at a critical juncture in that journey.  We are in great need of a new moral compass to guide us in making decisions about how to conduct ourselves as we ride through time and space.  We need to bring the best of religious thought and modern science together to formulate plans for our current well-being and our ultimate survival.  Above all, we must not let a few underdeveloped and shortsighted people capture the resources needed for this cosmic level task.  Uplifted awareness, individually and together, is absolutely vital.

The government of the United States of America was formed in a bloody revolution. The war with the British Empire was a revolutionary war.  Like other great revolutions it was a dangerous struggle against a tyrannical enterprise that was based on monopoly capitalism.  Before the uprising to shake off unbearable controls on the colonists, all of the valued goods were owned by a despotic monarch. The masses were degraded and forcibly consigned to hard labor with only meager allotments of life necessities like food, clothing, and shelter.  Acceptance of their fate to serve the King without complaint was enforced by terrible punishments.

There were other great revolutions around the world before the American colonists declared independence. However, those revolutions were soon compromised by the stealthy moves of a few who yearned for a return to the “good old days” when their wealth guaranteed unchallenged power to govern the majority of disenfranchised commoners.  The founding fathers of the American Revolution, aided by wise elders of indigenous North Americans, designed a new system for governing the United States that was unlike any known in the world at the time.  It aimed to provide an effective governing plan for the new nation, including checks and balances to protect it from it from encroachment by the side-lined elites.  The founders knew there would always be a wealthy faction working to usurp the power and benefits offered to all citizens in the fledgling democratic republic.  For more than two hundred and forty years that plan has worked to keep U.S. government free from takeovers by self-centered despots and their greedy followers. Today, however, the illegitimate election of Donald Trump to the office of President presents a frightening challenge to democratic ideals of governance on which our nation is based. It also has frightening implications for nations around the world.

The challenge currently spearheaded by Donald Trump and his minions is based on the writings of popular author Ayn Rand and promoted by Nobel prize winning economist, Milton Friedman.  It starts with the fundamental premise that greed is good.  It claims that individuals and corporations have no responsibility for anyone or anything beyond themselves.  See my previous RSN article that details how this world-view is a scheme that gives license to defraud trusting people and steal their hard won civil rights with impunity: http://readersupportednews.org/pm-section/78-78/42957-cue-the-shock-trumps-next-move

Our unique democratic republic was once considered to be a bright light unto the world.  It inspired the weary but hopeful people of France to create and send us a statue of liberty symbolizing that value in their minds and hearts. Today, as never before, the real issue confronting citizens of the United States is clearly defined. The problem is not capitalism. The problem is that adulterated capitalism is being used as a weapon for destroying our democratic republic to be replaced with an oligarchy managed by a few self-selected elites.

In America today, our government based on liberty and freedom of choice is in a battle-to-the-death with an egocentric scheme that offers oppression and subjugation.  The primal choice to be made is whether to fight for a representative democratic republic guided by a moral imperative OR to succumb to an oligarchy that is managed by a few elites who profess to answer to no higher authority than themselves.  At this time, the destructive forces of selfish greed are deeply entrenched in the fabric of our republic, but the seeds of their demise are inherent in their negative nature. With the concerted action of franchised citizens guided by a positive moral imperative, the soul of America can be restored and the light of freedom can be relit. The destructive forces will give way when an enlightened and committed people gather together, declare that enough is enough, and seriously go to work toward a brighter future for everyone.  We have the numbers.  We just need the will to take sufficient action.

 

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