3/20/2009 -  PKT, Los Angeles, CA writes ...
Calling on Democratic Capitalists       Post to Main Thread   Reply to PKT

Ask a corporation what the major cost of doing business today is and the answer won’t be taxes but health care and pension costs. Ask a middle class parent what the chances are for their children to go to college and you’ll looks of fear and doubt that they will be able to afford it. Look at the condition of America’s roads, bridges, sewer lines, public schools and general infrastructure. Look at the costs of wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and the expense of maintaining a strong military even without the extra burden of conflict. Look at the state of Social Security and Medicare and the future obligations that total more than is available in the system. Look at the manufacturing jobs that are going across the borders and the current state of the economy.

During the eight years of Republican mismanagement working Americans have had a decline in real income and purchasing power. Wages have been nearly been stagnant while the top five percent have through a combination of tax cuts and outright greed have experienced double digit income growth. Under Republican rule the rich have been getting richer and the poor have been getting trickled down on.

So in light of all the problems, all the failures of Bush and his cronies and the mismanagement of the economy what plan do the conservatives offer? More tax cuts, less regulation, more budget cuts of social programs and hysterical cries of Marxism and socialism when Obama’s rather tame economic initiatives are floated.

I’m old enough to remember the Eisenhower era. America was going through a huge expansion thanks in many ways to the postwar boom but also thanks to massive public works programs such as the Interstate Highway System and just as massive defense programs and Cold War military spending. During this time the top tax rate was 90 percent. No one was saying gee I won’t be productive because I’m not getting to keep all the money I earn. Capitalists didn’t throw up their hands and retire to their yachts because they were only making two million instead of ten million. Unlike the mythical trickle down theory so beloved by conservatives the tax and spend Eisenhower and later Kennedy and Johnson administrations helped create jobs and wealth and a better quality of life for all Americans.

The 1950s and ‘60s saw children of parents to whom college was an impossible dream matriculate at quality public universities paid for with tax dollars. Diverse social programs provided welfare, health care and social services to millions. Yes there were abuses, yes there were problems, but the overall good outweighed the negatives and we all prospered for it.

We are one of the lowest taxed of Western countries. We also provide fewer services to our citizens. For the past sixteen years (I’ll include the Clinton era in this as well) the rich have received a free lunch at the public trough in the form of deregulation and tax cuts and they have compounded the largesse by awarding themselves huge bonuses, perks and benefits while demanding take backs in union contracts and benefit rollbacks for their employees. And even that hasn’t been enough. Corporations demand more and more and if the government doesn’t deliver they hold the club of jobs and threaten to go to a different state or a different country if their demands aren’t met. When is enough enough? When will conservatives realize that unbridled wealth isn’t necessarily a benefit to society as a whole or the health of the country? And, most importantly, given the realities of today the question isn’t if taxes will be increased but by how much and how will the money be used. Conservatives fear we’re on the edge of creating a system based on European benign socialism. I only hope they’re right.

3/20/2009 -  TM, Chester, NJ replies to PKT 3/20/2009 ...
Calling on Democratic Capitalists       Post to Main Thread   Reply to TM

PKT, while I rarely agree with you on all points, I love reading your posts!

That being said, I actually agree with your reflections of the failures of the Bush and Clinton years (and beyond) as it pertains to fiscal social policies. But probably for different reasons. Bush was probably the worst of both worlds by spending like a drunken monkey.

But the kneejerk reaction to accept Marxist or socialist policies is not the proper attitude either. Keep in mind what Alexander Tyler wrote:

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship.

The average age of the world's great civilizations has been two hundred years.

These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage."

Tyler was a 18th century historian/economist who wrote 'The Cycle of Democracy' in 1778. This quote is the central thesis from his work.

What is true then is true now. We are quickly entering the phase of dependency, where everyone expects the government to take care of all our woes and needs. It is so easy to justify the nationalism of our banks, insurance, auto and health care industries, by simply saying that the people should have an interest in the companies that are benefiting from taxpayer bailouts. But once done, the people no longer have any control over the primary elements of the lives and are completely dependent on the government.

...and that opens the door wide for a dictator to step in and "make things better".

What may have sounded like an impossibility a few years ago is now right around the corner.


This, by judge of history, cannot continue in any successful manner and will collapse on itself.