Change: It's not the same Norman Rockwell painting anymore

It's time. It's time to abandon the Status Quo---capitalism, as we have known it, has run it’s course. It is now as a cancer; a disease in which abnormal cells divide uncontrollably and destroy body tissue. Circumstances are presently out of control and our middle class, like body tissue, is being destroyed by uncontrollable monetary forces.

For anyone decrying the thought of our country restructuring it’s economic practices to reflect something resembling the systems in Canada, England, Germany and all of Scandinavia, (Yes, it's called democractic socialism) I would ask you to look closely at our present system of unchecked Capitalism.

I'll state the obvious; change is disturbing…even when it is positive change. The Social Security Act, enacted in 1935, created a national outrage. Now, it is considered absolutely essential across the board. The same can be said of Medicare. Medicare was seen as the end of the Republic by some. All forms of a social safety net created an outrage at the time. Abolishing slavery created a Civil War that killed 800,000. A woman’s right to vote came only after blood poured in the streets of Washington. Same sex marriage, and so on….No doubt that when the country outlawed public hangings it was met with opposition. Imagine if we didn’t adopt those crucial changes to our social structure….could we make an argument today that slavery should still exist, that women should not be allowed to vote? How about the integration of public schools. ….It was codified by the Supreme court in 1955 but it was met with incredible hostility in many, if not all, parts of the country. Some states in the south defied the Supreme Court and President Eisenhower had to send in the National Guard to restore order. People were beaten to death in the streets. Could we, now, uphold a rationale for segregated schools…..

Similarly, I don’t see how we can create a solid argument against the need for a major change in the way our economy operates. Capitalism as usual won’t stand the next wave of the tech revolution. It’s not the good old 1950’s or 60’s anymore--the postwar era where white males reached their collective zenith.

The economy now is incomparable to the ones before this century began. The logarithms are unimaginable. The middle class is shrinking faster than the polar ice caps and with each stroke of the clock more money gets consolidated into the hands of fewer and fewer people. (3) families in this country have as much wealth as 50% of the country; think about that. It’s breathtaking. Do you think those trends are going to change for the better? That disparity is going to get infinitely worse. In a few years it is possible to imagine that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos will have a trillion dollars of personal wealth, or even more….a guy who ships packages around the country more efficiently than his competition. No, he didn’t cure polio, cancer, or develop an antidote to climate change. He didn’t build railroads. The man has made no discernible contribution to our society, in fact, he is a major force in eliminating jobs. He is leading the irreversible shift to a robotics driven economy. He puts things in boxes more cheaply than anyone else. But, he is rewarded in our society more than someone who cures disease or brings our country together. MLK changed our country in ways that can’t be sufficiently qualified, yet, MLK made no salary from what he did. He couldn’t monetize it. We don’t reward those contributions. Yes, Jeff Bezos will be taking tons of monies away from people who have it now. Those people will never see that money again. It’s nothing short of an abuse of the American economy, and, btw, he pays no taxes.

The Founding Fathers could not have foreseen the Internet, Facebook or Google (or Amazon) but if they could have they would have done everything in their power to shield us from the pending oligarchy that results from unchecked money making machines that create de facto monopolies.

There might not be anything more threatening to a democracy than a swath of ultra rich people who have more power than the rest of the population combined

…with that much money you can override voting, elections, the courts, the law, decency, Truth, and everything else that is central and imperative to a democracy. That kind of money will go a long way to secure protection against any persons or institutions that would oppose your self interests. Just imagine the power that Big Oil has wielded by buying influence in order to keep us tethered to fossil fuels and away from renewable sources of energy. Jamba Juice doesn’t have that power, and certainly neither does Mort and Gabe’s Bagel emporium on 23rd street. Imagine how Big Pharma and the NRA have been able to keep things the way they want them even though great majorities of the voting public oppose their policies and interests. Money keeps you out of jail, just ask Jeffrey Epstein who was able to, with money and gobs of high priced attorneys, keep himself out of prison for decades in spite of unspeakable crimes against young girls that he networked like a chicken farm. Money and power is how Harvey Weinstein, a serial rapist, was able to suppress any attempt to expose his sociopathic criminal behavior. He continues to spend money to “settle” these cases and he uses his connections to halt negative press. His company has spent, up to now, 44 million to suppress prosecution. You and me would be in jail for life with a fraction of the evidence that engulfs Weinstein.

Yes, money and power nullifies democracy. It continues to metastasize incredible inequality that will continue to get worse and worse as fewer and fewer own more and more. Wal Mart is not going to get any smaller, quite the contrary…but other stores that aren’t named Wal Mart will be closing…Malls are closing right now and they will continue to close. Do you know of any “mom and pop” owned pharmacies or sporting goods stores anymore? It’s all going “big box”. That means giant companies where monies are concentrated into the hands of a few. Unemployment will be something we can’t comprehend after automation becomes the cornerstone of our society…and it will! We won't have any "bootstraps" to "pick up" anymore.

Again, it’s not a matter of bringing the 50’s back…that is not possible…that type of economy is obsolete….either change (ahead) of the disaster or it is a certainty that the disaster will force change that will be more catastrophic. But, what does our current President do in response to the tea leaves? He gives a (2) trillion dollar tax cut to the rich in his first 6 months in office, AND, you and me let him get away with it.

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable”

-JFK

Think about it….would resembling Canada more than we do today be so cataclysmic? Could the uber rich settle for 5 vacation homes instead of 9? Isn’t it prudent to abandon the “survival of the fittest/luckiest economy or the “every man for himself” economy for one that aspires to create some attempt at fairness and dignity? It works extremely well in so many other countries in this world….ironically, they are the countries with the highest "Happiness" indices…year after year. Of the (18) countries that score higher than us in the Happiness index, (17) of them are democratically elected "socialist" countries. They have the highest trust in their governments…they have the lowest incarceration rates, lowest depression rates, they take the most vacations, and have the lowest rates of violence (by far). They don’t know what a mass shooting is. Those countries educate all of their citizens... They have the best health care systems….and the highest safety net systems. If you get sick you don’t have to worry about losing your house if you live in Canada. Would this be so offensive to Ayn Rand?

By contrast, Trump's favorite countries, Russia and Turkey, rank 68th and 79th. Living under a fascist dictator doesn't make many smiling faces.

We can do much better ….ask yourself…what is America the best at anymore? Are we good at education, health care, high speed rail, roads, bridges? No we are not. We are #1 in mass incarceration and gun violence. We have (by far) the most expensive college tuition fees in the world. You have to be rich or borrow to the bone to go to college in the U.S. of A. Of the 20 countries that are members of the OECD we rank 4th highest in infant mortality rate. Only Mexico, Turkey, and Chile have higher infant mortality rates. Of the countries with lower infant mortality rates in the OECD, 12 of them are democratic Socialist countries. The usual suspects, the UK, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Australia, etc..

We have 30 million people who have no health insurance at all and (by far) the most expensive health care costs in the world. We rank 34th out of the 35 developed countries in the world in terms of poverty rate for children 18 and under…..23% of our children live in poverty in our country. The poverty rate for children should be the major benchmark for how great is a country. Is there any gauge more important? Is 23% an example of capitalism at work today? Is that something to accept? Yes, we have more billionaires and we are the country where you can turn a sex tape into a billion dollar family empire that captures more band width than Christmas but, what else are we known for these days? Ethics, honesty, integrity. Compassion, leading the world fight against climate change? None of those….Egalitarianism will have to find a place in our country or we will surely crumble in ways we cannot yet anticipate. Our country may stay secure for the Zuckerbergs and the Koch brothers and the Walton family but will there be security for anyone else? Will there even be anyone left standing to roll their cigars and shake their martinis, or skipper their yachts.

Food for thought....