Why Capitalism and the Constitution have Failed

Lets Give Up on the Constitution

First off, and most importantly, it's over 200 years old!
      It was written by a bunch of rich, white slave owners, who had no concern for the common man and no idea what life would be like today.  Technology and intellect have lifted us beyond the need for these arcane rules.  As I regularly tweet: "2nd amendment was written with muskets in mind"

Second, there is all kinds of neat stuff the government want s to do and this stupid piece of paper keeps getting in the way.
     Obama just wants to take care of us and keep us safe.  These stupid republicans keep talking about some stupid, outdated document and that's the only reason that we aren't living in a utopia today.

Third, it is written in a way that is impossible to understand.
      How are we supposed to follow something that is practically written in Chinese?  They use all these strange words that make no sense.  Certainly nothing I learned in public school.  Plus its long and boring.  So boring I've never even read it.

Fourth, it's racist!
     That's right.  Game, set, match.
   

Capitalism is Designed to Exploit the Working Class

First, greed is bad.

    The idea that "greed is good" is the most offensive, illogical piece of rhetoric you will ever hear.  How can anyone think it is justifiable to act in their own self-interest?  Greed is bad, selfishness is bad, generosity and charity are good.  That is why we should force everybody to sacrifice excessive wealth for the good of society.  Millionaires and billionaires (aka people with a job) made their money cheating the system and exploiting workers and tax payers.  They should be required to return those ill-gotten gains to the society which they exploited.

Second, people can't be trusted to make their own decisions on how they spend their money.

    Let's be honest.  People are stupid.  Their ignorance supports socially destructive businesses.  Whether they are shopping at human-rights-abusing Wal-mart or eating animal-rights-abusing farm products.  They also don't know whats best for them.  Without regulation, they would get ripped off by banks and destroy their health with drugs and junk food.  Society is on the hook for the consequences of these poor decisions so its up to the government to minimize the damage that people can do to themselves.

Third, labor unions and government regulation are necessary to a safe, equitable work environment.

    Working people are dependent having a job for income.  Rich, bourgeois employers hold all the cards.  The only reason that working people aren't subjected to slave-like conditions is because of the minimum wage laws.  Labor unions are the only reason that workers can earn anything above minimum wage.  People would be forced to stay in abusive, dangerous, and low paying jobs with no benefits if it was not for labor unions and government regulation.  Who needs free will when you get a fat check?

Fourth, capitalism is unfair because rich people dominate the market and create monopolies. 

     We need the government to enforce anti-trust laws to prevent big corporations from cornering the market and gouging prices after there are no alternatives available.  We need intellectual property laws to keep the greedy corporations from exploiting art and literature created by the people.  We need patent protection so that inventors can profit from their ideas without having them stolen.  Rich people steal all their ideas from the working class!  Its not fair!

We Already Abandoned Capitalism and the Constitution, Long Ago

    People always talk about the constitution being 200 years old as if that in itself justifies ignoring the foundation for our legal system.  They must not realize that the alternative, rule by decree of the authorities, is far, far older.  These people do not propose amending the constitution, or coming up with something better, only ignoring it.  Lucky for them, our government has been ignoring the constitution basically since its inception.  The Constitution is supposed to place restraint on the government in order to protect the rights of the people.  That idea has been turned on its head.  Government authorities and politically connected individuals are exempt from the rule of law, while common people are forced to abide by arbitrary dictates with no regard to the rights and freedoms that are supposedly protected by the constitution.  We are threatened with outrageous fines and jail time for petty civil infractions.  These types of laws would never be allowed in a true constitutional republic.  Meanwhile, police routinely engage in brutality, politicians get away with bribery, extortion, and insider trading, and investment bankers have built a global empire based on fraud.  Almost none of these individuals are ever subjected to punishment or forced to pay restitution.

        John Adams ignored the constitution, which he helped to write, with the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 (fewer than 20 years after ratification of the constitution).  This made it illegal to criticize the government, violation was punishable by deportation or death. So much for the First amendment.  In 1913 the Federal Reserve Act was passed and the 16th amendment was written.  The Federal Reserve Act stripped Congress of its constitutional authority to coin money.  Instead, every dollar in circulation today is a dollar which has been lent to the US government by the Federal Reserve WITH INTEREST.  I wish more people don't ask the question "why do we have to pay interest on our own national currency?"  The answer is simple.  Our government has been hijacked by an international banking cartel since 1913.  The 16th amendment was passed the same year.  This implies that government is the primary owner of your labor, and they allow you to retain a percentage of the value created by that labor.  Though this amendment was not ratified by the necessary number of states, and "income" has never been defined by the government, that doesn't stop the IRS from using deadly force or sentencing people to decades in prison for asking questions regarding the dubious law.  Fewer than thirty years since the Fed's inception our country had two world wars, the worst economic depression the country has seen followed by the largest expansion of government ever with The New Deal.  The government was also guilty of the confiscation of gold from private citizens and the inexcusable deployment of an atomic weapon on the innocent civilians of Japan.

     These wars may have been constitutionally declared, but there is nothing constitutional about granting a monopoly power over the creation of money to private banks.  Are we so naive to believe that politicians control all the levers of power when private bankers may create money without limit and distribute it to whoever they want?  Money is power.  It is well known that politicians are beholden to their "donors" but few look beyond the "front" corporations through which the Fed members funnel their political clout, ie fiat paper dollars.  Many think the answer to this conundrum is more government!  As if, somehow, granting more power to these sell-out representatives will truncate the influence of money on policy making.  Especially tragic is the exploitation of our military service members.  These brave souls wish to express their patriotism by doing what they believe is necessary to defend their country.  Little do they know that war is always conducted in order to enhance the power of multi-national banks and corporations who in turn use that power to further undermine American sovereignty.  Some pay for this misconception with their lives, others with their peace of mind.  Nothing about these policies embody what I think of as American, which is to say, the principles outlined in the constitution.

      Let's be honest.  Everybody is in favor of freedom.  Freedom isn't about lobbying Washington to coerce everybody to adhere to your values.  Freedom is about living in a society of voluntary consent.  With freedom comes responsibility.  We should, without question, take responsibility for ourselves and we should have the compassion to voluntarily contribute to the welfare of the less fortunate.  Capitalism is a combination of freedom and democracy.  Every dollar spent is like a vote that is actually counted.  In many ways, we can take this cue from our financial masters.  Instead of buying favor from politicians, we should support socially responsible businesses.  First we need to take the time and initiative to educate ourselves. On the other side of the coin, employees should exercise their freedom of choice and not work for abusive employers.  The slave-like conditions I see occur when people have to work 3-4 months out of the year just to pay their taxes.  This must be a big part of the reason that people sometimes feel trapped in their jobs.  Minimum wage laws encourage complacency.  People are "happy to get" minimum wage, even though it is not nearly enough to pay reasonable living expenses.  What is the point of a minimum wage that places you far below the poverty line?  No wonder so many people choose unemployment and welfare over temporary employment.

     We delegate so many responsibilities to the government today.  Every responsibility delegated to the government results in a false sense of security.  Do we really think perpetual welfare helps underprivileged communities in the long term?  Do we think the quality of care provided under Medicare is commensurate to the total cost?  Do we really think that foreign aid is anything other than taking money from poor people in rich countries to send it to rich people in poor countries?  Do we really trust the FDA to make sure that our food and drugs are not only "safe" but healthy?  Do we really trust the EPA to protect the environment?  If so, we're not paying enough attention.

    The idea that government protects us from monopolies is absurd.  Government itself is a political monopoly.  Government's primary function has been to protect and enhance the power of monopolistic corporations.  The more profit a corporation earns, the more influence it is able to buy from Washington.  These powerful interests lobby for influential positions in the alphabet-soup agencies.  They write laws and regulations to stifle competition while exempting themselves.  This is not a free market, this is a pay-to-play economy.  The more political influence these special interests obtain, the more we move from corporatism to fascism.