Politics
Jim Palombo, Editor
Food for thought from our readers
In the previous articles I’ve written for Ragazine, I’ve focused primarily on the concept of capitalism. Via reports on the G-20, I documented its significance in terms of understanding what is happening with the rest of the world, and in particular with China. It has become quite clear that as the rest of the world struggles with the tenets of capitalism, we should at least have a grasp of what that struggle entails. In another article, I reviewed further why I think we should come to a better understanding of how capitalism works, in particular its effect on our own political and social processes. In this sense, a discussion was presented noting the dangers tied to our citizenry’s lack of having an “informed consent,” and a course of action that might alleviate this problematic situation.
The approach frequently evokes negative feedback. Almost to the letter, this feedback suggests I must be some type of socialist or communist to be presenting material prompting discussion on America as a capitalist country. It seems a good number of people find this type of dialogue, which is not the more typical one attached to democracy, offensive.
Actually, I find this criticism more supportive of my “we need to better understand capitalist America” position than not. This is so in that the bulk of our public quickly admits to the economically driven elements tied to their daily lives, (consider work/jobs (or lack thereof), tv, media, family situations, politics, etc.), but find a discussion tied to analyzing this fact alien. In other words, they feel/sense/see what is going on, but they not been encouraged to discuss why it’s so – a curious and dangerous situation, indeed. Moreover, asking that we come to understand the nature of capitalism – again a major piece of our own complex puzzle – really has nothing to do with being a communist or socialist. It references nothing more than a person interested in having a better educated and more informed America society.
This being said, what follows are two pieces I received in support of what I’ve been writing. The first is from a gentleman named Peter Wilcox, whose current home is in Scottsdale, Arizona. He is a world-traveled businessman who has come to feel that America may be losing its soul. The second is from a retired engineer, Fredric Fitzgerald, who maintains the hope that through well designed and serious dialogue, we can revitalize our American experiment.
I trust you will find both pieces of interest. In addition, I hope their reading will encourage you to submit your own thoughts that speak to a better understanding of the serious problems we face.
Re-Visiting the “Gilded Age” – Peter Wilcox
Having traveled the world extensively, I’ve had the opportunity to discuss our country’s rising inequality and distribution of income with many foreigners. And they often express dismay over how apathetic Americans are toward this obvious growth in disparity regarding the incomes and lifestyles of the rich and poor.
Over the past fifty years, there have been a variety of statistical analyses that point to the very small percentage of people who control the overall wealth of our nation. This is not just relative to income, but to the total assets accrued year in and year out. This of course does not bode well for a society’s welfare, especially when that society purports to be one focused on equality.
Foreigners see this and respond that surely a country with such a skewed income distribution cannot be better than a country where there is more parity. So why don’t Americans feel more alarm?
A big part of the reason is that Americans don’t know what is going on. They are misinformed, rely more on opinion, are too self absorbed, or simply have become immune to caring about what they think they can’t control. At the same time, our culture seems to cling to core beliefs and attitudes about a future that will always be better, in spite of what we see and feel happening to the contrary.
It appears that instead of moving forward, instead of taking stock of who we are and what we do, we again seem to be in an era of robber barons and corrupt political, banking and social processes. And the inequalities we see, well, these may well have become as American as apple pie along the way. It’s a shame, no doubt. But in the end, we will really have only ourselves to blame.
Improving Our System — Fredric Fitzgerald
Our system of democracy and capitalism has allowed some problems to develop. Fortunately, it has levers for making corrections, so let’s hope they get used. Here are some considerations I’ve gathered from a variety of readings and resources. (Not necessarily in order of significance.)
- Stop promotion of the idea that “growth is good” and adapt to climate change: Current exponential growths of human population, pollution, and the usage of natural resources are not sustainable. The earth cannot support an unlimited number of people, it has a finite capacity to absorb pollution, and its non-renewable resources will run out. We also need to recognize and work at the significance of the altering climate change in the world.
- Concentrate on Water and Food Issues: Allow for the increased price of fresh water only to pay for the trillions of dollars need for infrastructure and conservation purposes; establish world-wide food growing and distribution strategies. We must focus on these areas, as shortages, which already exist in some areas, cannot be allowed to continue to develop.
- Implement policies that the poor see as just and implement universal health care: Work at the continually growing gap between the rich and the poor. Progressive taxation will provide funds to support the disadvantaged, as this is part of a fair and equal society. These funds must be limited to work/education incentives and community investments. Progressive taxing will also discourage the accumulation of huge family fortunes unearned by succeeding generations. And health care coverage must be extended to all, especially given our interests in a free, fair and equal America.
- Require corporations to contribute 50% of their local profits to the local poor: Equal partnerships must be formed both here and abroad, and corrupt/imperialistic type bribes of leaders must stop
- Acknowledge our addiction to oil and its impact on our relations with the Middle East: Currently, we cannot get along without oil and we need to be honest about our policies and adjust them accordingly.
- Drop our role as “world cop,” shrink our “military-industrial complex” and shift our emphasis away from a war on Islamic terrorism: There are too many areas we should not/cannot be militarily involved with, so we need to better embrace our diplomacy, and not necessarily through only trade. We must not be reluctant to talk to adversaries without preconditions. We should cut back on the development and stockpiling of all weapons, which only stimulates reaction to the notion of our imperialism. And educating our people to differences and difficulties with others is the most prosperous way to avoid conflict.
- Educate the public to understand the nature of capitalism: Capitalism has a flaw in that it promotes human greed, materialism and competitive conflict. We need to develop an educational process, perhaps a series of courses, that will fully inform us all on what a capitalistic system is, and what restraints we can apply to help it work more for our benefit.
- Restrain the anti-democracy efforts of big business and financial organizations that benefit only the profits of the shareholders; shift our emphasis from bailing out Wall Street to providing work/jobs; limit executive salaries to a peak of 25 times the average worker: We cannot tolerate the expanse of business at the expense of our public welfare. In this sense we must seriously consider all possibilities of curbing the corporate appetite while making our system more equitably balanced. One area that needs to be immediately addressed is the limitation of campaign and lobbying funds which have served to skew our pursuit of common interest government.
- Stop the degradation of the social connections necessary for democracy to flourish: It must become a mandate to alter the course of our seemingly undereducated and complacent society, a very dangerous situation. This can be addressed by encouraging things like; a. better civic education, b. meaningful community service, c. networks that bridge racial, social, religious and geographic differences, d. integrating pedestrian friendly living and working areas, e. citizen discussions and debates, f. art and cultural activities.
- Challenge the reigning ideological system and, using all our technological and social abilities, seek to create constructive alternatives of thought and action with both our public and within our institutions: There are many issues confronting us which will require examining alternative methods of government as well as economic, political and social planning. We cannot eliminate consideration of these methods simply based on ideological differences, nor on profit motive, nor on merely public opinion, nor on the need to obtain a vote. This may take a “new will,” but we have demonstrated in the past that this is not something we cannot generate.
As you have read, both articles contain some definite “food for thought.” Mr. Wilcox has captured an image that most Americans sense – we seem to be at odds with our own ideals. Mr. Fitzgerald has pointed out some specific areas of concern – there is plenty of work to do and serious times ahead. In putting these two pieces together, it makes sense that we must be willing to make some significant changes to alter what we see happening around us. Said another way – we cannot continue to do “business as usual.” Unfortunately, even following the great hope tied to President Obama’s election, we don’t seem to be doing what we need to do. And I’ll add that harkening back to an earlier day – as his opposition often does – in the sense that life was simple and ideals were clear and close at hand, is not the answer. Aside from the fact that these “simple and clear” days never really existed, especially for those living them, we cannot exist in the past while trying to deal with the present and the future. Although history is important, things have changed, our cultural instincts from generation to generation have changed, technology has changed, world power has changed – it’s not a world to be lost in the past.
So, the hope is that we get to consider all these things (and more) as time move on – that we continue to challenge ourselves in the way that we must. It’s a mandate we cannot ignore. In this context, I hope you won’t hesitate to send in your comments or an article for consideration – offering your own “food for thought,” if you will. In the meantime, and until next edition’s piece, be safe, keep thinking and stay involved.