Government is a curious thing. It is supposed to protect and serve Democracy, by declaring rights it has great difficulty securing, and then proceeds to charge us a huge fee – ‘income tax’ – in order to do it. In reality, Medicare / Medicaid, along with social security, is only there to bail out the private sector, who could not possibly afford to pay this to its workers and still operate at a profit. Capitalism could also not operate without a military, to ensure business has ready access to all the raw natural resources the Earth possesses. The military is not allowed to fight on U.S. soil, yet U.S. citizens somehow pay for it anyway.
$100 billion a year goes to government ‘private sector welfare’, to make sure they succeed – half that much goes to individual people who fail to succeed in the private sector. Government, instead of doing its job, and securing Democracy, has punted the ball to Capitalism, which is not designed to look after people or Democracy or the planet. Capitalism is designed to consume the planet in the most effective and efficient way possible, which is ultimately not in the best interest of humanity. The trouble is that by punting to Capitalism, Government and Democracy must always be on ‘defense’, trying to prevent Capitalism from killing us and the planet. This is what creates all the tension between the two.
Enough is enough. There is a way for both to work together, instead of constantly having to lock horns. Government needs to grow a spine, and instead of constantly trying to either curtail or cover for Capitalism, simply create a democratic environment – an ‘operating system’ – on which to run Capitalism, so that it keeps the game ‘on the field’, and not spill over into anywhere it is not authorized to go. Capitalists, like all people, are excellent at adapting to environments – it is because of this skill that they win at the game of Capitalism. They have embraced Capitalism, and have navigated successfully within it. Unfortunately, no one has set any boundaries for it – this is why all our troubles have multiplied.
Everyone should stop worrying about capitalists, they will continue to succeed because that is what they were born to do, but we must stop letting them run up the score on people and planet in a game that is neither fair nor even competitive, and most importantly, without any clear boundaries.
