By John Bassett McCleary
Written in 2002

Some people have no tolerance for those who are homeless, jobless or drug addicted.  There, but for the grace of God and our politicians, go you.  The Christian work ethic becomes an accusation when there is no work to be had.  The American dream is a nightmare when the bed you sleep on can be taken away overnight.
People are falling through the cracks in America because the cracks in our streets and in our society are getting bigger.  Big business, not people, has been the priority of our government.
Those of us who are financially secure may think that social safety nets and the welfare system are give-aways designed for those other people.  Not so! The welfare system was designed to protect anyone in case they fail.  Even you!  And it can happen to you!
The systems that were originally established, with good intentions, by liberal administrations have been in the hands of conservative management for some time now.  Conservative administrations don’t care whether the systems succeed or survive, so, naturally, the systems have diminished and deteriorated.  They are in shambles, and in jeopardy of total failure.
In the past you may have fancied yourself a capitalist, and, therefore, voted for people who said they would cut taxes and reduce government involvement in your life.  But, look around, government hasn’t become smaller during the present administration; it has just become less efficient and more expensive.
What good are low taxes if all the things that make America great are gone?  If our roads, bridges, tunnels and public transportation are falling apart, libraries are closed, schools inefficient and medical care unaffordable, are we really any better off than a third-world country?
Even with the taxes we pay now, which many people think are too high, we pay lower taxes than almost every other industrialized nation.  And, to top it off, we are getting far less proportionately for the taxes that we pay.
Unless you make hundreds of thousand of dollars a year that will continue coming to you even if you are sick or incapacitated, you are not a capitalist, but just another working stiff.  In that case, you need the safety nets and social welfare, just in case.  Except for the very rich, we need a system that protects us from utter destruction if we fall.
In the last decade or so, insiders and wheeler-dealers have taken advantage of the system.  More money has been stolen from the hands of hard working people by doctors in Medicare scams, bankers in credit card schemes, and builders in HUD rip-offs than will ever be taken by homeless people getting handouts on the street.
I don’t condone heroin addiction, but I don’t think that it is any more destructive than a dry martini addiction.  It just happens that this society has chosen to make heroin illegal, but not gin.  Therefore, the sale and use of heroin is outside the law, which increases the price so much that most addicts have to steal, prostitute or panhandle to support their addiction.
Some people have addictions to gambling, credit cards, sports cars or golf.  These addicts are still able to fit unnoticed into “polite” society, but somehow the rest of us end up paying for it anyway.
Don’t look down at those on the streets who have been short-changed by life.  There, but for the grace of God, goes your stockbroker.

By John Bassett McCleary
2/4/09

Capitalism is the new Feudalism, and the feudal system is why most colonists and immigrants left the old country to come to America. Many Americans believe that capitalism is the economic system upon which this country was founded.  They are incorrect.
This country was actually formed with the ideals of free enterprise as its economic foundation, not capitalism.  There is a big difference between capitalism and free enterprise.
Free enterprise is the concept of a level playing field on which all people are free to be enterprising.  Conversely, capitalism, as it is abused today, is a system in which the wealthy and powerful do everything within their means, legally or illegally, to make it difficult or impossible for other “moral businessmen” to compete in the market place or survive in business.
A capitalist actually does not believe in free enterprise; a capitalist wants a monopoly, not free enterprise.  He believes in complete freedom for himself, of course, but restrictions and disadvantages for others.  A true capitalist is actually un-American, un-democratic and un-patriotic. It is a cruel joke that the game Monopoly was invented and became so popular in a democratic country.
Capitalism as we know it is only about 100-150 years old.  The United States of America is over 220 years old.
Capitalism developed from the free enterprise system, yet it is not the true democratic economic system that was envisioned and adopted for the United States by our Founding Fathers.  Free enterprise is the rightful, just and fair economic system for a democracy, and that is what was chosen for our country.
Capitalism as we know it didn’t have a name at the time of our independence, but if it had, it would have been called speculation, wage slavery and feudalism. We left the “old country” to escape these things.  These are not activities our Founding Fathers had in mind for their democratic economy.
Democracy is the only form of “government” that truly benefits everyone.  Of course, a few people feel restricted by having the majority choose the playing field.   Greedy people and those who think they are above morality want to run the world in a way that gives them all the advantages.
One of the primary reasons colonists came to America was to break free from the economic oppression in their old country.  Indentured farmers wanted land of their own in order to create a stable economic future for their families. Urban retail store and factory workers came to this country to start their own stores and factories.  The lower classes dreamt of the economic freedom and self-determination, of owning their own homes and businesses.
The colonies broke free from England largely because of economic oppression.  New Americans thought they had left the kings, lords and landed gentry behind.
What the middle class and working class didn’t realize was that the “Ruling Class” would not give up their control so easily.  The boats that came to America also carried “power men,” speculators, and feudal lords.
The United States of America is now an economic dictatorship.  The greedy people have slowly, but surely, been able to take over our government.  It has taken them only 200 years to dismantle the democratic protections our Founding Fathers created for everyone.  Now the rich are the only people with self-determination.
How can we call ourselves a Democracy when one of the most dominant aspects of our life is a totalitarian monopoly?  Our Founding Fathers did not, and would not have agreed upon such a selfish economy for their Union Of, By and For The People.
There is nothing wrong with Capitalism that couldn’t be solved by a measure of humility, gratitude and generosity.  Of course, these are all traits considered by most normal humans to be desirable, yet they are dismissed as weaknesses by a greedy person.
What I say is not a condemnation of all Capitalists or all those who believe in the Capitalist system.  But this is definitely a condemnation of all those selfish people who don’t thing other people deserve to be enterprising as well.
Why do some folks want to have all the money and power?  I know the answer!  It is not really the money or even the power.  It is the desire for dominance.
This is basic Freudian Psych 1-A. It comes down to insecurity.  Because of their upbringing, or lack of it, they were made to feel inferior; therefore, insecure and vulnerable.  As a result of this, some people act out arrogantly, thinking that it shows self-confidence.
It is primal for some people to want to dominate others.  It is the way they compensate for their own insecurities. This “boss” mentality doesn’t want the masses to have even a measure of satisfaction, because they think it will make them less controllable.
Sharing the wealth is often called a Communist conspiracy, but it is the best way to keep from having constant economic and political upheaval, and eventual revolution. In nature’s food chain, all nourishment comes from the smallest organism and travels upward, feeding each member of the chain until it eventually reaches the top predator.  In human economics in order to make the whole process work equitably, the money must start at the bottom and pass through the ranks, nourishing and satisfying each member of society until it reaches the bosses at the top, as it always does.