No one can earn
a million dollars honestly.
William
Jennings
Bryan, 1860 – 1925,
an
American lawyer, statesman, and politician, three times the Democratic
Party nominee for President of the United States.
The decadent
international but individualistic capitalism in the hands of which we found
ourselves after the war is not a success. It is not intelligent. It is not
beautiful. It is not just. It is not virtuous. And it doesn't deliver the
goods.
-----
Capitalism is the
astounding belief that the most wickedest [sic] of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of
everyone.
John Maynard
Keynes, 1883 – 1946,
a British
economist whose ideas, called Keynesian economics, had a
major impact
on modern economic and political theory, as well as on
many
governments’ fiscal policies.
After our Southern California fires in October, 2007, a
news reporter noted that there would be increased activity for San Diego
businesses because of the rebuilding.
My father has a question for which the answer is less
difficult than what we imagine. He
asks why, with all our technology, we have not found a solution to tornados
and hurricanes, in light of the huge devastation.
Answer: it is because of
the huge devastation that we have not found a solution.
Devastation means rebuilding, which means stimulation to a local or
regional economy.
Besides the rebuilding, if we did a better job of
fireproofing our homes and businesses, what would that do to firefighters
and fire-equipment manufacturers? If
residents took control of neighborhood security and reduced crime, what
would that do to police officers, attorneys, court clerks, court
transcribers, judges, bailiffs, corrections officers, and suppliers to
prisons?
Morbid? No.
Macabre? No.
Mendacious? No.
A maxim? Maybe.
The ills of our society give rise to business, to jobs, to the
exchange of money. Many jobs
would be lost if we had a perfect society.
(Side note. It is
interesting to note that in Christian Scripture this is not an issue for
those of faith who inherit paradise on the new Earth.
One imagines that police officers, attorneys, physicians, and others
would not be needed, so the faithful would have other occupations.
Willingly take other occupations?
Which other occupations?)
There is the opinion that capitalism would be the worst
form of economic organization except all those others which have been tried
from time to time. In other
words, we could not do better than capitalism.
Yet, capitalism needs misery to keep going.
Not a comfortable feeling, unless we be willing to look for a form of
economic organization which would be not as bad.
January 10, 2008