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.
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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.  

So far, we have noted many deficiencies in the capitalism which we practice.  The purpose behind such a look is to encourage thought and action about how to make capitalism work better.  So we look at more deficiencies.  

Do you take walks around the block?  When I take walks, I sometimes notice reusable items put out with the trash.  In the last few years, I have twice found a standup electric fan, one which could be used without repair and the other which could be used after my electrically-gifted brother replaced a fuse.  

That is not even the tip of the iceberg.  Whether you stop at yard sales or simply drive by them, you must have noticed how, four times a year, we have sales in Montebello .  (I like the sales not only for the bargains, but, also, for the socializing.  Yard sales are one way for neighbors to become acquainted.)  

But when the yard sales end, one or both of two things happen:  (1) a large quantity of items goes back into the garage and / or (2) a large quantity of items goes into the trash.  Many useful items are thrown away.  

There is some consolation, as there are gleaners who come by in their pickup trucks to take some of the reusable items.  I would like to think that the remaining reusable items would be set aside at the landfill and sold, assuming that the items survive the journey in a trash truck.  

However, let us pause and consider all the items which we store around the house which we do not use and all the items which we store in public storage and do not use.  

My ears perked up when, a few months ago, Dr. Wayne Dyer, a motivational speaker, www.drwaynedyer.com, said on PBS that he had given away most of his earthly possessions.  It would be interesting to know what holds us back.  And it would be interesting to know why the temples and churches do not have, at least once a year, a “clean your closet” to take a large quantity of reusable items.  

My father summarized the problem of hyperconsumption and perfunctory discarding of items by saying that, if everyone recycled as he and I did, fewer people would have work, that is, more people would be unemployed.  This raises a thought:  is American capitalism the best economy for our times?  

February 21, 2008