Laissez-faire Capitalism and It's Social Reforms by Richard Schwartz	Next
The Plutocrats  Or The People

This is what you vote for :

The Return to The Old Capitalist Two-Class System - The NeoCon Republicans
Wealthy Minority & Impoverished Majority

Coulter, Bush, O'Reilly, Cheney

Extreme Right

JP Morgan Ending Progressivism and New Deal reforms will bring the U.S. back to Laissez Faire Capitalism - Monopoly economics, Robber Barrons & the end of the middle class.

Eisenhower vs. Goldwater Moderate vs. Extreme, not really. Galdwarter was not the radical right we have today, but more libertarian who become more liberal in his later years

The Republican Right, which today represents the extreme Right over the moderate, is based on representative democracy and conservative Supply Side/Laissze Faire/trickle down/fixed economics of excessive profiteering from the poor and the environment by the ruling wealthy minority. And since election financing is based on money supplied from these same wealthy lobbyists, re-election crucially depends on these benefactors. Deregulations and tax cuts of the wealthy and stronger, narrowly interpreted social and moral constraints on the rights of the non-wealthy represent a return to the pre-progressive era which began in the late 19th century culminating into the 20th under FDR.

Tax cuts for the wealthy and deregulations can be likened to the board game Monopoly, where in the more advanced stages the few own most of the wealth and the rest work for low wages, living in poverty. Economic freedom and free trade becomes the freedom to exploit, employing authoritarian control against social freedoms of the non-wealthy majority. The attack against Democrats on social spending is contradicted by Republican tax cuts for the wealthy, military spending, deregulations, corporate subsidies and special projects. Between the two Bush Republican administrations are what brought the savings and loan disaster, the $2 trillion in deficits, the California electricity crisis, Enron, WorldCom, all from Laissze Faire economics - free market fundamentalism. And with their privatization schemes, as in education, Medicare and Social Security are the attempts to bring rapidly this structure of monopoly economics where one or few persons/corporations owns both "Boardwalk" and "Park Place" with hotels, while the majority are in hock to pay the expenses under low wages, high unemployment and lack of distribution of wealth. Small government means less economic police, deregulations, where the lobbyists can buy the "get of jail free" cards and carry on "free 'fraudulent' trade" practices.aiding secretive government, excessive military and smear tactic/hate media venues. Add all of this with shielding energy policy deliberations to setting up military tribunals without court involvement and unwarranted secret domestic spying and wiretapping of the Bush Administration.

"It's the same looser laissez-faire ideology that produced the Great Depression. The free market is a wonderful thing, but it functions well only within a nest of law and regulation. When those who are regulated by the government buy the government, the people get screwed.", Molly Ivins, Dubose, (Thomas Frank), Bushwacked, pg. 47

The so called "liberal media" has become the minority in a quagmire of right wing hate media and intolerance, falsely disguised as patriotism. Liberal flexibility and concern for the poor are considered anti-American. So far, while Bush is campaigning for Tort reform (the loss of consumer's rights to sue fraudulent corporations) the clock has been turned back on welfare, progressive taxes, OSHA, Class A action suits and bankruptcy laws in favor of the large corporate creditors.

Here is where there is a major difference between the moderate Republicans, such as Eisenhower or John McCain and the extremes of Right Wing Christian conservatives such as Goldwater, Gingrich, Delay and the current Bush administration. Notable is McCain's effort to revamp campaign finance laws and Eisenhower's recognition of the significance of social security and New Deal reforms against privatization and extremism of Goldwater's religious bias morality codes.

The current G.W. Bush administration falls in the Goldwater extreme, resembling the secrecy of the Nixon administration (according to John Dean, much worse), using deceptive practices, false information, intimidation of the press, abuses of civil liberties, fictitious grass roots groups - Astroturf, falsely disguised bipartisan committees and one of the first administrations to fully implement the eradication of one of the most successful legacies of FDR's New Deal for over five decades - Social Security, which attempt to privatize has so far not succeeded. Without sounding either too extreme or eschatological; Wake up America, we're heading towards a return to both the 18th and 19th century crony capitalism and possibly the fascism in Orwelian's Oceania. The Patriot II Act is sitting quietly in the books.

The Progressive Equalitarian Reforms - New Deal Democrats
Middle Class Society

FDR, Clinton, Cleland, Wellstone Ralph Nader

The Democratic Left is supposed to be based on liberal socialistic democracy and Keysian/progressive economics, taxing from the rich, giving to the poor and the environment, to win re-election from the ruling people's majority.  O.k. the demcratic party is hardly this, however the "idea" is progressive taxes and economic regulations balancing out wealth in both creating and sustaining a middle class society. From child care, social security, disability, unemployment insurance, minimum wages, tort laws, environmental, civil rights, universal health care and social reform projects. This produces more balanced, open, tolerant and more openly critical media venues, attacked as weak and unpatriotic by the immoderate Republicans. It is also tolerant of the over zealous and extreme politically correct venues, equally attacked. Ideologically applied, this is the party that has both introduced and employed civil rights, worker's rights, consumer protections, environmental protections and the freedom of information act - within the United States. Unfortunately, today's democratic party is nothing short of a lobby bought watered down version of the Repbulican, but thankfully not the extreme neocon. Unfortunately in the past, extreme intolerant tactics representing censorship have been used by those on the left resulting in many former left thinkers to convert to the Right. So there has been non-democratic actions employed by both sides. Also, representative democracy that applies socialist relief can be abused in non-democratic actions and wasteful spending, becoming monopolies resulting in both state dictatorial control, bias relief programs and Union dictatorial control with embezzlement of union member's funds. Watch dog groups are the answer, not running to the Right. While wasteful spending becomes the focal point of its Right wing opposers, the failure lies in the inability to recognize the significance of experiential, flexible, changing, progression with evolving innovations towards equalitarian and social and economic justice. Even so, hypocritically, the Republicans end up spending and wasting much, much more, with billions of dollars on military spending, tax cuts for the wealthy, corporate welfare, special projects and programs of narrow religiously interpreted moral imperatives and social surveillance which raise the deficit far more than regulating lassaire faire with checks and balances. Even back in FDR's day, the Taft Hartley Act destroyed the emerging tripartisan politics (corporations, labor unions and government) of capitalist democracy, reducing the labor unions into a mere interest group that eventually had to identify itself with the civil rights movement. A great social and significant movement the civil rights are, but it helped reduce the labor into more of a more limited interest group not covering all workers. Even the new left was later fractionated from the feminist movement, which although an extremely important movement, helped to dissipate the new left's power to organize as an active force against right wing fundamentalism and watered down liberalism. The idea of Keysian consumer spending economics in a progressive taxation and regulated society, and the idea of socialist democracy and a progressive capitalism, there are no more games of monopoly, no monopolist control in government, unions and capitalists - instead, democratically run government, unions and capitalists, each group employing equalitarian representation, adequately regulated and progressively taxed accordingly. Although even under the best circumstances, economic expansion through foreign exports is crucial for prosperity. And this is no small matter but imperialism which the doctrines such as the manifest destiny, Morn doctrine, open door policy and the Turban doctrine show the necessity or exploitation through imperialism in foreign markets.. Campaign finance laws and lobbying have democrats resembling more as republicans - as the tools of the wealthy. While third parties, as in Ralph Nader's Green Party & others, resembling more as democrats, deweyian participatory democracy and tools of the people. - The McCain-Feingold Bill is a start in the right direction. The revamping of campaign finance laws are the quintessential prerequisite, the vital and urgent nécessaire raisonnez, for democracy to continue, that is, if we want a middle class to continue.

"The balance struck between democracy and plutocracy, between fair and unfair tax and budget priorities, between investor rights and corporate managers, between a "government of the people, by the people and for the people," in Lincoln's immortal words, and a government of the Exxons, by the General Motors, and for the DuPonts, determines the quality of our society. It is not coincidental that many centuries ago all the world's great religions cautioned their adherents not to give too much power and position to mercantile interests. So too, our greatest presidents issued warning after warning about "moneyeyed interests."

Franklin Delano Roosevelt emphasized this in a message to Congress, "The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state itself. That is in essence fascism: ownership of the government by an individual, by a group or any controlling private power."

We would do well to head this age-old wisdom as we ponder why our corporate and political leaders assume more and more control over our lives and futures." Ralph Nader, The Good Fight, pp. 3-4

In addition, there is the problem of the once existing law, the FAIR Reporting Act, which was eliminated in 1980 during the Regan administration and was later joined by the FCC deregulation of the media's monopolistic control, which now monopolizes radio, TV and newspapers unfairly reporting with a Right wing bias. Objective reporting, or any reporting that does not endorse Right wing opinion, is attacked as "liberal bias," while in reality, almost the entire media is conservative owned and controlled.

Another major problem affecting democracy in American politics concerns packing the judicial system with life-time appointed judges, which now is being dominated by Bush appointed conservatives with not much relief in sight. The difference lies in judges having preconceived absolutes verses those who recognize that all truth lives in the relative position it stands in, judging in flexibility and not in conservative predetermined and biblical absolutes.

Chart taken from James Carville, Had Enough?, p. 87 - Carville is from CNN's Crossfire "I was wrong." July 2002 - Alan Greenspan’s remarks to the effect that “infectious greed” is responsible for recent business scandals, and that more government regulation might be needed. This contradicts the philosophy of his mentor, Ayn Rand, Laissze Faire Economics and his own statements of four decades ago. Despite this two division of a one party system, instead of a valid two party system, which is based on corporate welfare by both the Democrats and the Republicans and the Repbulicans tax cuts for the wealthy, there has been economic growth under Democrats revealing a much higher job growth over the supply side economics of Republicans. With the current heavy tax cuts for the wealthy under George W. Bush - dubya, there has been no job growth but instead the highest loss of jobs and unemployment since Herbert Hoover. From Clinton's 2.4 job growth and progressive economics of tax increases for the wealthy, which gained the U.S. a 236 billion dollar surplus, to dubya's deregulations, military spending and spending due to tax cuts for the wealthy, went to a - 0.7 job loss and has the U.S. in approximately a - 477 billion dollar deficit. Looks like Supply Side/Laissze Faire economics (in one lesson - Harry Hazlit) does not work, the free economy can not take care of itself, unless your one of the few who own the properties, commodities and labor - then what the hell, deregulate!

Sources: Congressional Budget Office (1990-2003), Congressional Budget Office (2004 projection), Citizens for Tax Justice, Friends Committee on National Legislation

Considering the Bush administration's track record, this 500+ billion deficit is going to start ballooning alarmingly. Just two years ago Bush was going on about a 6 trillion dollar surplus. By any standard, going from +6 trillion to -1 trillion is abysmal. Enron would be proud. The leftist's dream of the comeuppance of America seems more possible with every day of the Bush administration.

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein wrote to Herr Cederstrum in 1932 the following: "It is no accident that capitalism has brought with it progress not merely in production but also in knowledge. Egoism and competition are, alas, stronger forces then public spirit and sense of duty. In Russia, they say, it is impossible to get a decent piece of bread . . . Perhaps I am over-pessimistic concerning State and other forms of communal enterprises, but I expect little good from them. Bureaucracy is the death of all sound work. I have seen and experienced too many dreadful warning, even in comparatively model Switzerland."

"I am inclined to the view that the State can only be of real use to industry as a limiting and regulative force. It must see to it that competition among the workers is kept within healthy limits, that all children are given a chance to develop soundly, and that wages are high enough for the goods produced to be consumed. But it can exert a decisive influence through its regulative function if - and there again you are right - its measures are framed in an objective spirit by independent experts." Albert Einstein, The World As I See It, pp. 77-78

Yet What Do Two Centuries of Both Republican and Democratic U.S. Foreign Policy Reveal?

Chomsky, Debs, Marx, Trotsky

The capitalistic exploitative process of controlling labor and raw material of less developed nations amounts to economic imperialism. From former colonialism, to the current WTO, IMF, GATT, NATO and the support and creation of controlling dictatorial governments. Can capitalism exist free of exploitation? Or must war and imposed poverty of other nations always exist for the competitive edge of the few wealthy of the more powerful nation(s)? The "free trade" agreement is the freedom to privatize the foreign nation's assets where the stronger economic players buy and own, produce from underpaid cheap labor, funneling the profits over to their pockets and their countries (the U.S.) economy. Destroying what's left of the under developed country produces much more poverty, disease and crime, which result in socialistic rebellions from the exploited working people. And so the U.S. either supports existing - or employs new, dictatorial and brutal repressive regimes, or uses a plan to repress the rebellions of low wage working and unemployed people (the majority) and protect U.S. economic interests of the wealthy few.

This U.S. control is usually done in three stages: (1) First come the economic hit men (John Perkins, Confessions Of An Economic Hit Man) who offer the grossly inflated and dishonest - grossly elevated - economic forecasts of profit to those few controlling in power from the U.S corporation's infrastructural building, which of course brings great wealth to the few U.S. contracting parties (2) Secondly, if this does not work, the state department or CIA, will send in the "jackals," the paid assassins to eliminate/assassinate the opposing rulers and players who reject these U.S. economic building offers, (3) and finally, if this does not work, the U.S. sends in the military - but not without first whipping up the media (which is now grossly owned by monopolies since the 1996 Telecommunications Act and its predecessor, the 1980 removal of the Fair Reporting Act) to create fear within the country in opposing this "other," demonizing it such as to win military support.

One of the few "good" things of the Iraq War is it is temporarily preventing the U.S. from attacking Cuba, Venezuela and now Ecuador, not to mention North Korea and other players who refuse to play the U..S game. Iran may be next. Also the increase of distrust of Saudi Arabia has her now dealing with China, a great competitor for the consumption of oil and an future economic threat. All this counterbalances U.S. hegemony but at the same time sets the stage for later battles and eventual economic fall.

Dictatorship of the proletariat vs. democracy of the proletariat (Luxemburg vs. Lennin). Or democratic capitalism vs. revolution (Bernstein vs. Lusemburg or Experiential progressive democratic - the old left vs. revolution of the new left (John Dewey, Whitman, Rorty vs. Marx).. Or libertarian socialism vs. state capitalism and state socialism?

I would like to think the middle way - the vital center - would be closer to the Bernstein model of gradual change, here with Keysian economics within a democratic grass roots socialism, a political democracy based on a moderate equalitarian society infused with Left hand spirituality. That is, a morality based on compassion, justice and generosity with autonomy, over the current Right's patriarchal power domination and controlling strict father morality. A morality based on fear which produces power, greed; of me-first economic survival in a every man for himself society that rewards the wealthy and ignores the poor.Anotherwards, here would be mercy not sacrifice, kindness and generosity with rewards that promote hope and peace to the planet earth and her environment, to all the creatures and to all humanity beyond nationalistic borders. The Right wants to convince us that this is utopian naive hope, while enforcing competition in fear.

(Books: George Lakoff - Don't Think of An Elephant; George Lakoff - Moral Politics; Michael Lerner - The Left Hand of God; Arthur Schlesinger - The Vital Center; Noam Chomsky - Hegemony or Survival)

Charts taken and abridged from Richard Maybury, Are you a liberal? A conservative? Or confused?

Both Conservatives and Libertarians support economic liberty, the liberty of the minority of powerful economic players to exploit the poor majority in a free unregulated capitalist market, monopoly economics. There's a vastly large difference between economic and social liberties.Unregulated economic liberties produce fraud and abuse without consumer protections, while social liberties protect privacy and civil rights.The social encroachments of conservatives police the small man while the wealthy and powerful are excluded in subsidies, tax cuts and influence. Morality runs hypocritical.

QUOTE FROM the flap of the hardcover version of Arianna Huffington's book, How To Overthrow The Government:

"Arianna Huffington has earned a reputation as one of America's best-known and most independent political commentators, but this book (How To Overthrown The Government) will surprise even the most ardent followers of Beltway politics. In its pages she breaks away from the party -line platitudes of critical Republican and hypocritical Democrats alike and shines a harsh light on the real crises of contemporary America. Our democratic system has broken down, she contents. the two political parities have become indistinguishable. Their policies are feeble, their motives self-serving, their campaign tactics ruthless and insulting. And, as they kneel at the altar of profit, our nations'; foundations are crumbling. Decay is everywhere. The physical decay of our cities and schools is matched by the moral decay of a drug industry that is allowed by politicians to push Prozac on children, a media industry that looks only for the next scandal, and a political industry that hypnotizes its candidates with polls, paralyzes them with smear tactics, an d seduces them with carefully camouflaged cash.

How To Overthrow The Government, then is Huffington's call to arms; a challenge to the average American to seize the government back from the special interests that now hold it hostage and restore control to the people themselves. From campaign finance reform to new voters' rights to grassroots Internet activism and civil disobedience campaigns, she calls for fresh and radical solutions to this national crises - and offers a directory of local and national activist groups to contact that can help make it happen."

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