A New Beginning to Peace and Prosperity
Putting another 100,000 police on the streets to solve our problems is a foolish strategy.
Justice is Not Just Punishment
Capitalism requires permanent inequality to function. Therefore, the only measure capable of ensuring peace and prosperity for “We the People”, including a competent participatory democratic republic, is to either convert to comprehensive socialism or produce a healthy, well-educated Middle Class. This is not a hostage negotiation or a determination of criminality; it is the physical reality of maintaining a capitalist mode of production. Moreover, it is the physical reality of enabling such a culture, and in fact species, to achieve both sustainability and progressive evolution.
Healthy capitalism requires both permanent inequality and a healthy, well-educated Middle Class to function, through classical (Keynesian) “bottom-up” economics, regulated capitalism, and progressive taxation. I’ll let you decide then, how practical it is to continue operating through a capitalist mode of production, when the required result so closely resembles comprehensive socialism. Healthy capitalism requires a philosophy like economic libertarianism, and individual levels of specialization representing liberty, motivation, success, innovation, and progress, to function in sustainable conjunction with a healthy, well-educated Middle Class, including mechanical physics that govern the ecosystem.
Regulation includes doing no global business with unscrupulous predatory employers or governments - both foreign and domestic - that do not play by these same rules of healthy capitalism. At least one Presidential candidate, Ralph Nader, has made doing no such unscrupulous global business central to his political platform, so that America is not reduced to paying “The China Price”, such as it has.
Healthy capitalism includes regulating our very conception of “liberty and security”, so that we no longer defend deregulated liberal capitalism that must fight an endless war with the world of logic, reason, and physical reality. The warped timber of manmade human actuality never supersedes the requirements of physical reality, which is only identified objectively through reductionism to physics.
The economic and social policies of classical economics, regulated capitalism and globalization, including progressive taxation, produce a healthy well-educated Middle Class as a critical component of infrastructure, which is necessary to produce an effective participatory democratic republic, including achieve sustainability and evolve progressively.
Of course, many that defend liberal capitalism don’t care about producing such peace and prosperity for “We the People”. In fact, a representative of The Nation has accurately asserted that the Republican Party seems to be “the party of building more prisons, and providing tax breaks for the wealthy”. Above all, social conservative laissez faire capitalists wish to build a covenant with god through money, and never allow their tax dollars to pay for abortions, or the average slothful evil sinning masses.
Many identified as neo-conservatives, Theo-conservatives, and economic libertarians consider such a relationship of healthy capitalism an argument for socialism, and therefore both criminal and dismissible in an endless war (in some of their minds representing good and evil) with what they consider “objectivity”. The deal breaker for objectivity and logic however, is that such an unscientific unregulated definition of individual liberty protected as “inalienable human rights” enables the falsehood of both religion and laissez faire capitalism through the same definition of liberty.
Once however, such an argument for healthy capitalism is dismissed as socialism and criminality, authoritarian bubble psychology turns a blind eye to these proven economic and social measures that prevent capitalism from becoming a runaway institution, through disparity in wealth, concentration of power, and now abstraction with the very requirements of both society and the ecosystem, including Global Warming. Such deplorable self-interests don’t care about producing a reasonable sustainable democratic republic in favor of privatization, and in fact wish nothing more than to circumnavigate an intrinsically socialist democratic process per Florida 2000.
When that is the case, all of these Middle Class social and economic policies can simply be bypassed, and replaced with corporate fascism. When the falsehood of both religion and laissez faire capitalism are determined through the same definition of liberty, and the purpose of an economic system is deemed to serve profit before people, authoritarianism is soon deemed required to fight an endless war with the world of reason over liberal capitalism, which defends corporate profit like a god through an oligarchy supported by religious fundamentalism, which is exactly what has happened.
Many republicans, neo-conservatives, Theo-conservatives, and economic libertarians believe that America was designed of, for, and by wealthy white god-fearing property owners. The “commonsense” Jeffersonian design of America through such life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness came first in governmental constitution, regardless that science abhors commonsense as much as nature abhors a vacuum, and regardless that no objectivity is produced that enables the falsehood of both religion and laissez faire capitalism through the same definition of liberty.
Consequently such “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” has produced overpopulation, the unsustainable depletion of earth resources, and Global Warming. Nonetheless, many privileged interests were vexed that our constitution did not read “life, liberty, and the pursuit of property ownership”. Property ownership and privatization however, of course diminish any sense of civic participation, which is essential to a participatory democratic republic.
To this day, economic libertarian fundamentalists were not even happy with George Bush, and would like to see the abolishment of a minimum wage and Medicare, which would cause society to melt into a puddle of goo overnight. Nonetheless however, because of the market correction of FDR’s New Deal, America has represented the development of a property owning democracy, which was a radical departure from a property owning oligarchy.
It’s no wonder that neo-conservatives, Theo-conservatives, and economic libertarians have endorsed an attack on the Middle Class. Old World socially and economically conservative interests representing a god-fearing property owning oligarchy wish nothing more than to redesign power away from an encroaching secular socialist government determined by the socialism of a democratic process beholden to science – for example to produce “healthy capitalism” - and instead regain power through minimum wage-slave corporations enabled by Judeo-Christian ethics.
Such strategy has been proven effective through a church-state religio-economic relationship, which has stratified and controlled society by keeping the oligarchy of a 1% to 10% ownership society wealthy and powerful. To socially and economically conservative interests spanning neo-con, Theo-con, and econo-lib, the encroaching secular socialist government that physical reality demands can only diminish their wealth and power. Regardless that capitalism never self-regulates to pay the average guy doing the average fulltime job a livable wage, these deplorable self-interests would still rather pad their bank accounts at the end of the day defined as liberty, while the majority still live as evil, stupid, and slothful peasants.
After 30 years of trickledown voodoo Reaganomics however, no such average peasant can still believe that the intrinsic socialism of a democratically regulated government does not serve the general welfare far better than laissez faire capitalism, which never self-regulates, and never pays a livable wage to good honest hardworking people that need it. Instead, these deplorable neo-con, Theo-con, and econo-lib interests would rather pad their bank accounts, by subjugating good honest hardworking people to pay Ralph Nader’s “China Price” through unscrupulous globalization, both foreign and domestic.
After 30 years of trickledown voodoo economics, deregulation, and unscrupulous globalization, where we don’t all play by the same rules of healthy capitalism that we should be, “We the People” have been thoroughly diminished by an unlivable minimum wage-slave service industry economy, with no healthcare, benefits, or ability to savings. This consequence has produced the highest average level of personal debt, bankruptcies, failure of our public schools, epidemic rural drug addiction, domestic violence, and Middle Class home foreclosures in American history.
Meanwhile, all facts about the construction of America through separation of church and state, freedom of speech, and democracy identify a secular socialist nation, of, for, and by “We the People”, which is maintained through democracy and regulation to prevent capitalism from becoming a runaway institution. This is either exactly, or the state-of-the-art potential contained in the Founding Fathers design of America.
Classical economics, regulated capitalism, and progressive taxation don’t prevent the manufacture of wealth, but these policies do ensure attenuating capitalism with the modicum of socialism – perhaps better stated as opportunity - necessary to ensure peace and prosperity for “We the People”. No conception of “economic libertarianism” can ever supersede producing a healthy, well-educated Middle Class as a critical component of infrastructure in a participatory democratic republic.
If we don’t ensure peace and prosperity for “We the People” through this “socialist” attenuation of capitalism, the next stop is either fascism or communism. Fascism is where we are now, and communism is what we are debating the merits of once again. Possibly, the real true solution lies even further up the political philosophy spectrum, which I propose as the political philosophy of “Universalism”.
Nonetheless, while America chases either a poorly understood or poorly qualified America Dream, “We the People” seem to prefer fascism and oligarchy, which causes the American Dream to become a sick practical joke on both the Founding Fathers and “We the People”, by producing Kings and Criminals like a factory.
Defining the American Dream through success stories accomplished with disparity in wealth and concentration of power is the greatest misnomer facing both the American Dream and capitalism, which requires both permanent inequality and a healthy, well-educated Middle Class to function. Possibly, the American Dream needs to be redefined through socialism and in fact universalism. Success that “could only happen in America” through disparity in wealth and concentration of power has nothing to do with producing a sustainable American Dream for “We the People”.
The American Dream for “We the People” isn’t about disparity in wealth for the few, and then carefully removing yourself to a superior destination to live like a King, while the majority continues to live like peasants. The Founding Fathers design of America, and the American Dream for “We the People”, is to avoid the manufacture of Kings, Priests, and capitalist Elites through disparity in wealth and concentration of power for the few, and instead enable “We the People” through a healthy, well-educated Middle Class.
History that Marx cited has proven repeatedly that elites use their disparity in wealth and concentration of power to pry, leverage, and influence government with gifts, favors, and blackmail to sellout “We the People”, and give over the power of government to special interests. Such special interests now represent “socialized” generations of common elites through ladder climbing company allegiance to produce profit oriented corporations, which reward such shameless sycophants with the untold number of homes that John McCain might own.
The Founding Fathers design of America and the American Dream was of, for, and by “We the People”, which ensured peace and prosperity for all by avoiding disparity in wealth and concentration of power equal to Priests, Kings, and capitalist Elites, by putting the power of government in the hands of “We the People” through democracy, and the regulation of capitalism.
Through the power of democracy, “We the People” voting for the general good could ensure the socialism and opportunity necessary to properly attenuate capitalism, and produce a healthy, well-educated Middle Class, which process resolved through the socialism of democracy serving “We the People” to produce a closed loop of positive feedback. In addition to democracy, separation of church and state, and freedom of speech that favored no particular denomination, might all enable the free marketplace of ideas to choose the truth so that this system could evolve progressively.
Whether this system can be improved upon, and what such progressive evolution would resemble, is the subject matter of this book. We should seriously be considering these questions, because some are already beginning to subvert the Founding Fathers secular, socialist, democratic, and progressively evolving design of America, and replace it with fascism and oligarchy maintained with Judeo-Christian ethics. In counterpoint, maybe this secular, socialist, and democratic design of America can be improved upon, where such progressive evolution would undoubtedly be the product of improvements made through science, not fascism, oligarchy, or religion.
Circa 2009, the Founding Fathers vision of the American Dream for “We the People” has now been thoroughly subverted from such well-engineered secular, socialist, and democratic design by neo-conservatives, Theo-conservative, and economic libertarians beginning with President Reagan in 1980 through voodoo economics, deregulated capitalism, and tax breaks for the wealthy, including the outsourcing of American jobs and industry to unscrupulous predatory employers and governments both foreign and domestic that do not play by the same rules we all should be.
Approximately thirty years later, neo-conservatives, Theo-conservatives, and economic libertarians readily take advantage of a purposefully poverty stricken, dummied-down, and faith-based democracy, which is easily exploited. True secular evil continues to ply on peoples paycheck-to-paycheck fear, and basest psychology of individualism, including “the deeply personal decision to faith”, by making the purpose of an economy to serve profit for some people, instead of prosperity for all people, which restarts the “Hobbesian” manufacture of Kings, Priests, and Peasants though a profitable self-fulfilling authoritarian church-state prophesy.
Subsequently, the American people have been kept on a war footing since Viet Nom, and the self-fulfilling authoritarian church-state prophesy advertised as democracy, liberty, justice, and freedom has spread war around the globe, paving the way for an unregulated laissez faire capitalist business model that exploits cheap foreign labor. Back at home, the consequences of deregulated capitalism and the self-fulfilling authoritarian church-state prophesy have equally exploited Americans, and we have been paying “The China Price” ever since.
Any leader that promotes solving social problems by putting more troops on the ground, or police on the streets, or with faith-based reasoning in any form such as the secular equivalent of hope without addressing peace and prosperity for “We the People” by designing a healthy, well-educated Middle Class, leads nobody but the wealthy waving a flag and a cross at the end of a barrel of a gun. This poor governing understanding and strategy both designs and then punishes the institutionally screwed over average individuals of “We the People”, which reduces the American Dream to a veritable Frankenstein Syndrome that fills the streets with foreclosed and homeless zombies.