Gods of the Marketplace

Unfettered capitalism is white collar crime,
with which the people have become too familiar 
--RangerAgainstWar 

The trouble with selfish motive
 is that they begin to look like principles,
 and you end up sending your kids to die for them 
--Robert Brault 

~Mr. Gardner, do you agree with Ben,
or do you think that we can stimulate growth
through temporary incentives?

~ As long as the roots are not severed,
all is well. And all will be well in the garden 
--Being There (1979)
___________________

Some apres-election thoughts:

First: the primary system that serves us our cookie-cutter twins every four years is a dud; it may work at the state or local level, but cannot operate adequately on the National.  Instead, it reliably delivers demagogues who lack the aptitude to govern The People.  They are Pandars.

We have learned to take what we are given -- superficial, shallow leaders with a veneer of poise, confidence and and verbal acumen, with a faint whiff of elan (not too much!).  Like children being coaxed to eat some unsavory, we are told that there are starving children elsewhere (Be happy you have food!)

The primary system delivers losers wearing various masks of success and we buy into the gambit, wasting our votes on buffoons or downright righteous idiots.


Second:  Capitalism is no longer a functioning adjunct to democracy; ultimately, Capitalism will destroy our United States system of democracy.

Democracy requires discipline, production and commensurate consumption. Capitalism today is delivering the opposite bill of goods:  It is undisciplined, and productivity is no longer our yardstick of excellence. Today's Capitalism is based upon profit versus the good of society at large.  Additionally, Capitalism fosters the flow of our wealth to regions beyond our borders.  Presidential contender Mitt Romney's closed Swiss bank accounts and his offshore Cayman money are examples of this.

The consumption process in Capitalism and in Democracy are conflicting ideas.  The Republicans want the benefits of Capitalism to accrue to the monied strata, which has always been a goal of Capitalism (up to now) but this is in opposition to what a Democracy needs in order to sustain individual freedoms and liberties.

Our Constitution addresses democracy and freedom, and this is translated today into Free Markets and Global Economy, but this sort of Capitalism will destroy out way of liberal thought.  This is true in both foreign and domestic policy.

Neither presidential candidate addressed this issue, and the "S" word (socialism) has been carefully excised from both party's national dialog.  The topic is not about what to do with General Motors or any other company, but rather, what are our national priorities and what are we?

Capitalism and Democracy have two competing sets of requirements, while our election cycles are always about Capitalism at the expense of Democracy.  Monetary concerns have clearly trumped Democratic concerns, at the latter's expense.