Good morning once again, Oz,
you left many thoughtful comments, and for the moment i'm going to ignore them all. i thought i'd shift focus a little. i've talked a lot about my ideals and utopian fantasies; i thought you'd find it interesting to see a list of things i'd do if i were in charge.
separation of market and state: you know, the separation of church and state in the U.S. was originally envisioned as a means to keep big brother from messing with the church, but these days the relationship is reveresed. i have a couple ideas in mind with this.
the first and most important is campaign finance reform. business influences elections far too much via its ability to finance the campaigns of certain individuals. i'd change it so that if a business or individual wanted to fund the election process, they make a tax-deductable contribution to a central fund, which is then divided equally among any eligable parties (in the event a third party ever received enough of the popular vote to qualify for federal financing). the parties will determine who their candidates will be, not private financing.
there's also the issue of commercial taxes. some multinational businesses manage to avoid as much as 50% of the taxes they rightly owe the U.S. government (partly due to the legal fees needed to get this money, partly due to a back-scratching relationship between business and government). i lack the expertise to figure out ways to enforce the tax laws more strict, but that's what advisors are for; in any regard, it'd be a priority.
finally, there's the revolving door between business and government. people often move between government positions and high-level private ones during the courses of their careers. i don't have a problem with this specifically, just the fact that it occurs almost exclusively between government and business why don't we see high-level politicians coming from and returning to fields in education, medicine, law enforcement, or social work? our "democracy" as it is really doesn't represent the population. i don't know if there's be anything needed to address this specifically; hopefully campgain finance reform would do the trick.
demilitarization: not a total demilitarization, of course not. but i'd definately dismantle most of our nuclear stockpile: that stuff's costly to maintain! i'd also probably expand the army's role to explicitly include reconstruction, disaster relief, etc. ideally i'd like us to never be at war, and we should put those personnel to good use more of the time (i know it's already something the army, navy, etc. does, but as far as i'm concerned, third world development should be a standing order). i'd also scale our military down considerably and rely more heavily on treaties and alliance. i'd like to improve the education and training of military personnel, pensions and other benefits.
nationalized life-care: it's rediculous that we don't have national health care. access to public education, though better than nothing, isn't based solely on merit, and is often an unrealistic goal for poorer parts of the population. i'm not saying national models would be better, and i'd certainly encourage private, tax-deductable alternatives to social security, public health care and education.
but it's extreme poverty that is my most profound concern. every bit of sociological evidence indicates that 75% of street-level crime is cause by poverty. welfare doesn't eliminate the problem, as it's often based on unrealistically low living cost projections, and the red tape to actually receive public assistance is rediculous. the idea of "the welfare mom" is an exaggeration for sure, but even if it's not: i'd rather use public funds to support the lowest level of society than let it sink into barbarism.
yes, i'd be introducing a more steeply curved tax to pay for all this. the thing is, capitalism produces poverty. yes, it also produces wealth, but that wealth only exists because its drained from other places. and after the 17th bedroom, does your house really need to be any bigger? i don't want to prevent people from pursuing wealth if that's what they want, but it'll cost them more than it does now.
new trade laws: money talks, and our money should talk. people say that our jobs going abroad are a good thing for foreign peoples. however, our imported electronics, textiles, organic produce, and many other trade items are all manufactured or otherwise produced under poor labor conditions. women in electronics factories go blind from chemical fumes. arthritis at age 30 from working with textiles. they're forced to live in dormitory-style housing, 6 to a room, under armed guard. i say it should be illegal to import or sell any product that wasn't produced under conditions that match or exceed our own in the united states.
reclaim the public spaces: i'm sorry, but cities in the U.S. have grown ugly. advertising is everywhere. i mean, everywhere. the radical part of me would want to make advertising illegal completely, but even i know that's going a bit too far. still, there's this great image in the book
No Logo by Naomi Klein of a city block in which all the advertising has been airbrushed out. if felt like i'd be able to beathe there.
but it's not just advertising; it's also the effect of business on art, music, film, etc. it's become crap. i'd want to find a way to reduce advertising, and at the same time create public support for artists. art, after all, makes everyone's lives better (at least when it's something more than a money-making tactic).
architecture, too. people in older U.S. cities might not experience this problem the way i do. but i've noticed that all the new construction here in san diego is either incredibly boring, or very ugly. for example, about 2 years ago a new condo development went up in Hillcrest called The Egyptian. it was built around the entrace facade of an old theater that'd been done with relief motifs from ancient egypt. while not a perfect replica, there was real craftmanship put into that facade. it was restored, and they did a decent job. but the actual building around this entrance is hideous, all built from cheap materials and such. i understand that the people beind this building wanted to make money; but it shouldn't leave me with the cost of living in an ugly city.
...people always hear about ideas like this and throw up their arms, saying buisness wouldn't make enough money. but money is a realtive thing in capitalism, and buisness would adapt. i don't want to make over our whole society; freedom to pursue wealth is a freedom i'm not willing to marginalize, but i also think it's something that'd lose a lot of its prestige. i envision a society where people still have to work to have any measure of material luxury; but one where survival isn't at stake. this ties into one thing you said to which i really wanted to reply.
...it seems to me that generally the people who complain about capitalism are the ones who can't compete. Or younger people who are starting at the bottom of the totem pole. If anyone thinks that they can outdo me, bring it on. I'm pretty damn good at what I do. Capitalism works for me.
you miss the point here entirely. i don't
want to compete.
i'm 25. i have a BA. i have a 32k/year job with full benefits. i'm not exactly at the bottom of the totem pole (though, i certainly can't see the top from here).
you've admitted that you think i've very intelligent. if i applied my intelligence towards business, i know i'd rock it. it's not that i can't compete.
not everyone wants to compete. some people just want to live. some people want to pursue things, or pursue things in ways, that aren't compatible with business. but business colonizes all things if left unfettered.
one easy way to define democracy is 'rule of the majority' (since it's logically impossible for people of differing views to all rule the way they each want). maybe it's not inherent in the definition, but there's a predicent in our democracy that the majority provide the minority special treatment, if it's needed, to live lives of relatively equal dignity. what about the section of the population, whatever its size, who don't want to compete in business?
as much i care for the poor people of the world and my own country, my criticism of capitalism is rooted in selfishness. i don't deny it. but i think noble selfishness is possible. i'm sure others feel the way i do. but my compassion for the downtroden is also part of my selfishness: it makes me feel bad to see others depraved. i don't expect anyone to agree with all this, but i'm certainly going to spend part of my life's work trying to convince people.
