Labor Day Holiday

Well i used to talk more about this publicly but it isn’t really appropriate in this format anymore, although sometimes something will sneak in. However, on my PERSONAL facebook page I am pretty vocal, so it isn’t a secret to many people.

On economics, I would have been defined as a centrist or Eisenhower Republican in the 1950s and 1960s. By today’s standards, that makes me a raging socialist considering how far to the right American politics has gone on economics. I am not a socialist and communism obviously did not work, but at the same time I think Marx was right that pure capitalism will eventually destroy itself due to its internal contradictions.

I think we are seeing that today, which is why this is not an ordinary recession. Without stronger labor unions, capitalism will destroy itself because the greed of the plutocratic class knows no bounds. The class war is a real phenomenon; the rich have declared it against the poor and middle class, and right now the rich are winning. Warren Buffett says it and I think he’s exactly right.

What amazes me is that so many people whose lives are being destroyed by the plutocrats SUPPORT the very policies that are destroying them. But as Jay Gould said, “I can hire half the working class to shoot the other half of the working class.” There are a lot of lunatics who want to return this country to where it was in the 19th century. They are seemingly unaware that the reason the New Deal stuff was put in place was TO SAVE CAPITALISM from destroying itself.

Libertarians like to say that we can trust private enterprise to do the right thing because the market punishes companies which hurt their workers or customers or who pollute, etc. This is a nice piece of ideology but IT IS DEMONSTRABLY UNTRUE. Freed of regulations, most companies will and do destroy the environment, abuse workers, even KILL THEIR OWN CUSTOMERS if it increases the profit margin. History proves it, but people don’t read history any more.

Like I said, that sounds far-left in today’s environment, but it was mainstream in the post New-Deal era from the late 30s all the way to about 1970.

Right now, I think the American dream is dying. The rich people=hard workers and poor people=lazy equation put forth by libertarians and right-wingers is demonstrably untrue in my experience. In my view, many rich people (although not all) got that way due to a combination of hard work, yes, but mixed with ruthlessness and corruption, immoral actions, and a view of other humans as disposable resources. Sociopathy is often rewarded with wealth. As for poor people=lazy, yes, some are. But I would like to see how Wall Street investment bankers or the average CEO would do working road construction on a 120 degree day, or how many talk radio hosts would survive picking oranges from the groves not far from their Florida mansions without keeling over from a heart attack in the first hour.

Basically, I think the best economic system is capitalism-with-strong-labor/environment-protections to keep corporate greed from getting out of hand, with a strong public education system. Health care is a big topic but I have already gone on too long.

On social issues, I am way to the left on some things. I supported gay rights back in the 80s when such attitudes would get you beat up in high school. I am center/right on a few others. I support the Second Amendment as an example of the later.