Politicians, the Elite and Social Engineers, Part 3

Capitalism - I love it, and I hate it.  I love it because it creates competition to assure that people continue to provide the best possible products and services at the best possible price.  I hate it because, unregulated, it leads to monopolies and 1 in 6 people living in poverty.  Socialism is supposedly the opposite of capitalism, but countries that are strictly socialistic are often frought with greedy/selfish politicians.  So, how do we get the best of both worlds?  I like to call it regulated capitalism.

Here in the U.S. we've been doing quite well with capitalism combined with Social Security and welfare.  That is, as long as there has been plenty of tax revenue provided by a good economy.

Economy - let's consider that concept.  A good friend of mine once went to a seminar.  In this seminar, the leader had the people form a circle.  He gave one person in the circle a dollar and had that person give the person next to them that dollar in exchange for a shoulder-rub.  Then, the person giving the shoulder rub would repeat the pattern with the next person in the circle.  Well, of course, the dollar was supposed to get all the way around the circle.  It's a nice idea.  Everyone gets back what they put into the system, right?  However, in capitalism, one of those people would be smart enough to haggle and get that back rub for half-price and invest the savings in something that gets them more money down the road.  And this is where the imbalances in society begin.  Let me be clear, I'm not suggesting that the haggler is an evil-wrongdoer.  I have a retirement fund and I do what I can to save money.  This is simply the world we've been born into.

So, how do we keep a balance without going completely socialistic?  I know some will disagree, but I believe it means "soaking the rich" and "death" taxes.  If the wealthy were keeping more people gainfully employed, maybe this wouldn't be necessary.  Even some of the wealthiest people support this idea:  Warren Buffet and the Gates family.

Some are afraid of taxing the rich because they may leave the country or stop 'investing.'  If I were making $200K a year, and paid half that to taxes, I would still have at least $20K to expand my portfolio!  If I didn't want the government to get so much of my money, I simply donate some of it to non-profit organizations I believe in.

I don't understand the resistance to Estate taxes.  People think they somehow deserve an eliteist life just because they were born into an elite family?  Aren't those who have worked all their adult lives more deserving of their Social Security benefits?  Aren't children living in poverty, who have done nothing to deserve poverty, deserve a good meal provided by food stamps?  I say we increase taxes on the wealthy before we cut these programs!

I'm not saying that the poor don't deserve some of the blame for the problem in the U.S. (I say "in the U.S." because I know the recession is global).  If anything, the recession is forcing the U.S. labor workers to be willing to work for a more competitive wage.  I mean, why do you think companies have gone off-shore so much?

And, at the same time, I know people in our government agencies deserve some of the responsibility too.  They seem to operate like many Americans operate with their credit cards and mortgages!  But how do we keep these people accountable?  Maybe that'll be another post...