The underlying idea behind democracy is that the average of citizen’s views leads to a moderate wisdom that is both egalitarian and restrained. This doesn't eliminate the tyranny of the majority, masses can be whipped up into illegitimate fervor. In general a broad consensus evolved from those who will suffer the greatest consequences of failure ensures a slow and balanced progression. This is a critical aspect of democracy: broad based citizen lead representative government ensures that those with the least, the least resources and protection from failure, have the greatest influence on the course of government as a group.
The wise and learned elite often have reserves to minimize the consequences of failure. The wealthy can afford to take great risks because they are not betting tonight’s dinner. They will not suddenly face starvation. This is the stark divide between how the majority living pay check to pay check and an elite minority with large buffer of reserves will run the country. Slow, cautious and considered suddenly makes sense when your daily survival may be at stake.
A deliberate government with checks and balances to slow change is wise when your goal is to protect the least secure in society. Until we return government to the people we can expect a gamblers mentality running our country. The logic of saving the bankers and letting the homeowners fail makes sense to the power player seeking to maximize national income and international power. To the individual hoping to obtain and maintain a comfortable life, the high stakes games of international relations and global economics runs counter to ensuring a stable and secure environment to raise a family.
We once debated guns or butter when deciding on national spending priorities, the debate has been silenced, the decision made: the US will serve as the policeman of the world. We will borrow from our children to maintain today’s spending levels. We will cut social programs before reducing military spending.
Henry Ford had the epiphany that if he didn’t pay his workers a living wages they could never afford to buy the vehicles they were producing. Today we outsource production to reduce labor costs rather than ensure sufficient good paying jobs for Americans. Today rather than raising wages to purchase goods made in America, we reduce the cost of goods so Americans on lower wages can afford to purchase products from developing countries. Today rather than building automobiles, televisions and great infrastructure projects, America has become a service economy, we don’t build, we serve. We take orders at fast-food restaurants, calls in customer service centers and orders in stores at malls to support the consumer driven service economy. Was that our collective dream for America?
The elite financial market makers and corporate titans are having a ball placing their big bets in the financial markets. Is circulating money while skimming a cut off the top, acting on insider knowledge and manipulating markets with sheer volume a productive economic activity? Is this the market systems that we have been assured will provide for us and create the stability our family’s desire and enable us to grow as individuals? A nation of people struggling just to keep ahead of the next crisis is not one that will have the opportunity to make productive choices to improve their lot in life.
It is time to wind down the casino markets and re-establish our core human values of ensuring the basic human need of security, stability and an educational system that offers the individual the opportunity to achieve through participation and effort in an equitable and accessible system. We may never be able to make the world fair but we can at least offer a basic level of opportunity to all citizens to participate in the economic system and reap the rewards of hard work and fair play.
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