A Polite Response

After reading “What are texas good for?” by American Politics and Other Such Nonsense, I felt very much in accord with the general argument; pinpointing the negative effects of large corporation and the unrelenting misdistribution of wealth.

Certainly government regulation has never been so needed for the taming of the not-so-gentle giants that command most of the nation’s capital. However, has the government really gotten too big, or just off balance? Also, if balance were to be restored, what would be the balance? Most Americans these days cry for federal intervention to promote closing the income gap, but would those same people be willing to sacrifice the necessary freedoms to avenge their paycheck? If taxing those with wealth, especially those who made it themselves, is the answer, what will be the product? There was once a saying in this country that one has to “pull themselves up by their own bootstraps”, which did a fair job of capturing the independent and self-made spirit that this nation was founded on.

 The beauty behind capitalism is that everyone, rich or poor, has the right to property, prosperity, and wealth. Those who prosper have the privilege of owning more or nicer stuff which can be translates to wealth. In a socialist society this is not the case. Those who prosper have the privilege of having to taken away by government to allow for those who don’t to have more or nicer stuff, which can be translated to no wealth.

This is no way a defense for the structure and operations of the current economic monarchy, simply a revision of the alternative’s reality. If knowing that your next business decision could lead to a million dollar profit in one year, but that 85% of that profit would be collected by the government and distributed back amongst the poor; or instead lead to a hundred thousand dollar profit over 10 years in which the percentage that you keep is much higher, and the “wealth” that is distributed would be consequently much less, which would you do? I’m not saying that one would chose the latter simply out of greed or to intentionally prevent others from benefiting from your prosperity, but is it really fair for those who cannon prosper on their own to claim entitlement to your? I don’t think so. Obviously some economy engineered, people powered, hybrid of the two systems would be the most ideal solution.

To build an economy in which the rich were required to partake in the government and overall processes in a positive way, but not via an indiscriminant tax that strips away the incentive to become great.

Once it was Simple

Being asked to write an original critique of the American government seems almost impossible without creating a novel. So many challenges face this nation and its government, both currently and in the past; and certainly in the future.  This system of democracy has seen its shining moments of exemplary performance, but is not without black marks of utter failure. Health care, environment, oil, global warming, the economy, Iraq, social security, taxes, farm animal cruelty, over population, immigration, China; the list goes on and on.

However, this government has had but one predominant reoccurring flaw that only becomes increasingly more noticeable as time goes on: the ability to do something. Certainly there is an answer to many of these problems, (not that everyone would be satisfied of course) but plausible solutions that could hold the support of at least most of everyone. But sadly, just as one plus one does not equal four, a government without problem solving capacity does not equal results; and obviously a system not designed to make changes cannot correct itself in that way. But this is democracy; a nation ran by the people for the people, right? Shouldn’t the public be able to take notice of such a fundamental flaw and swiftly and decisively correct it? How simple that would be, but of course they don’t want that, they want the public to stay dumb and obedient servers of consumption. They are not vague notions of some made up group used to justify an invalid point, we all know who they are, we talk about them, we know their effect on the population and their participation in the growing gap between the classes; but no matter how much we know, we let them to continue to gamble away our freedoms and rights with big red, white, and blue poker chips and dumb grins. They are the people that have purchased our Senate, Supreme Court Judges, and the president. Any bells ringing yet? IBM, General Moters, Exxon-Mobil, etc. and of course our government itself, or the people the head them you could say. Big business, big corporation, we know what’s going on, there’s no attempt to hide it anymore because of one fatal truth: NOTHING IS GOING TO HAPPEM! Every fat, lazy, debt ridden, obsessive consumer afflicting this country is going to continue to do just that, while they sob crocodile tears about their b.s. jobs and depressing lifestyles and say “someone should do something about all this”. However, they’re not entirely wrong in feeling helpless against the never ending stream of undecipherable legislature that makes up our system. And clearly the lower class is not responsible for the extreme ill-distribution of wealth; but alas… capitalism, once the healthy heart that gave life to the most powerful and innovative country has become riddled with disease, choking and crippling the very limbs it once fed.

We the people know the problems facing us, we the people HAVE the power to decide who we give power to, and we the people need to stop cluttering our minds with useless feeds of crap from television screens and shopping malls, so that we the people can take back our country.

Largest Corporation