Laissez-faire (hands off, de-regulated, no limits, profit only matters) Capitalism is NOT Democracy.
Oh, I know, having grown up during the cold war, about the "evils" of communism and socialism that we have been fed steadily for years. I know that there are many who make NO distinctions, and that many of those who gullibly believe everything they say will fight to the death to defend our nation's Capitalism, because they have been told it is the same as Democracy... but it is not. There are MANY democratic societies that have hybrid economic systems that include elements of socialism, because it balances fairness, equality, equity and safety for people who live within their nations. Ours used to be a Relative Democracy, BECAUSE OF our "free market system". Now, it is an Oligarchy... a Plutocracy... why?
It started in 1981 and a little before... the rhetoric, the fear, the lies, the deceptions, the extreme loyalty to the laissez-faire system that was systematically instituted by the wealthy to keep the poor exploitable, while at the same time blamable for the economic woes it created...
Jobs were sent overseas to make more profit for executives, stockholders and owners of corporations, because there were fewer regulations on pollution, waste and fair labor laws. These "American" companies eliminated jobs for our own people and exploited people in other nations for decades.
Organized Labor was gutted of any power, so that "right to work (for nothing) states" could be developed that pay substandard wages with no job security. The lack of balance did not benefit employees, even those who were duped into believing it was better for them. It benefitted the owners who now have complete power over the economy and employees, and our citizens have been hurt with lower wages, longer hours and little chance of getting ahead.
The de-regulation of banks meant our great recession. The de-regulation of industries means that now on the governmental oversight committees are full of the former executives who used to do all they could to use up the minerals, lumber, oil, natural gas and other resources for their own profit, even when it was devastating for our environment and health.
War is good business, so right wing administrations did all they could do to get into a couple of them to help out their buddies in the military industrial complex. The lives of our citizens and those of the lands we occupied were expendable for the sake of their profit.
The very idea of universal healthcare is so repulsive to these laissez-faire folk, because it will mean less profit at our expense in the medical and insurance industries.
Voter suppression is the desperate tactic adopted by many now, because they do not want people of color or those whose interests might not match those of the ones with all the power and wealth, that they must do SOMETHING to make sure that people do not bring balance politically at the price of their own profit margins. This is NOT the work of folk who LOVE Democracy.
PAC's, limitless and anonymous donations and lobbyists now are driving in the final nails in the equitability coffin for any representative, fair and equal government for all the people, as they are not able to BUY government like they can BUY everything else.
You KNOW what Party has been consistently behind this. They claim to be Patriots, but do everything they can to kill Democracy for their own profit. In fact, they HATE Democracy, because it puts a limit on how much they can exploit others for their own gain, and lets people collectively, and not their money or power, decide the direction and fate of the nation. They HATE Democracy and LOVE their greed-centered, laissez-faire (unfair to all but them), free market (costly to everyone but them) system that now OWNS what used to be a great Democracy...
What astounds me is the numbers of folks who have been HURT by them for generations, who still support, defend and VOTE for these folks.
Clearly, Laissez-Faire Capitalism is NOT Democracy.
Clearly, Socialist Democratic systems are more fair and equitable.
Clearly, there are STILL large numbers of folks easily enough duped to believe this helps them.
I pray for our nation. Apathy, complacency, hatred, ruthless greed, lust for power abound in it.
Pastor Jamie
No comments:
Post a Comment