It is hard to think of anything more cruel or self-defeating than to destroy the spirit and ambition within a population. Promising equal results to all will certainly result in a race to the bottom for everyone because all incentive will be eliminated thus ensuring failure. The ambitious crowd will cease to strive and take risk while the apathetic crowd will never be motivated to venture into realizing any aspiration. For as unkind as it seems that there are some in society that have attained a disproportionate amount of abundance, it is even more unkind to extinguish all hope that the others may ascend to the same level of accomplishment. Notions of social justice sound utopian, but as often true of Government promises; they seldom deliver and create massive destruction as a result of their implementation. Having different and unequal results in society should be viewed as a gift that facilitates a better life for all of us. Allowing a system that rewards effort and accomplishment will rightly keep America’s arrow pointed up in the future, anything to the contrary will guarantee an outcome not even worthy of a dismal participation trophy.

Our Government should foster an environment that protects and allows us to enjoy our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to their fullest. Unfortunately, actions speak otherwise; they have instead chosen to become an institution that prefers to govern with a heavy hand. This is being facilitated by the slow, methodical confiscation of our freedoms and liberties which are then used to expand their dominion. Our politicians oppose acknowledging that natural rights exist because recognizing these inalienable rights serve to undermine their coveted agenda of control, instead they prefer to believe that such rights are enacted by legislation thus subject to rescission or modification at will. They would much rather structure a society resembling a metaphorical “zoo” so that our lives can be completely managed and regulated to conform to the will of Government. After all, our politicians believe themselves to be of superior intelligence versus the aggregate, thus undoubtedly concluding that our existence should be administered much like a chimpanzee in a zoo. The important question for our society to resolve is do we favor a dictated existence from our Government that promises the illusion of equal results to everyone, or do we strongly reject it knowing it can not be delivered despite the tremendous cost to our freedom and ultimately our society? The answer will certainly present itself going forward, but so far it appears that “Welcome to the Zoo” seems appropriate.

It is very interesting to see our own Government’s vicious opinion regarding supply-side economics and how it is nothing more than a ploy to make the rich even richer while taking advantage of common Americans in the process. It becomes all too easy to engage in the usual class warfare that is so typical of our politicians in their constant attempt to buy votes. However, we should examine their actions versus their words. Over the last year, we have witnessed our Government intervening in certain company negotiations such as the car companies, because they know that failure will impact too many jobs at both the company itself and every supplier that touches it, and in their opinion this prospect is too costly to withstand. That cost manifests itself in bloated unemployment claims followed by decreased tax revenues, which is an unacceptable outcome. Despite all the objections regarding supply-side economics brought forth from our elected officials, their actions speak quite loudly. If they did not believe in its merits, then job losses would not be a concern. In fact they are now beginning to float the idea that small businesses should get tax breaks and subsidies in order to create jobs, this should say it all regarding the reality of this debate.

The notion of Supply-side economics is really simple and straightforward regardless of how badly one would like to disagree. First of all, in order to for common Americans to be prosperous, they must be employed above all else. Secondly, in order to have paying jobs available, there must be viable companies in operation. Thirdly, companies can only exist if there are parties willing to take the risk and invest their money to provide the necessary capital for operations. Fourthly, if money is needed then it must be obtained from those that have it to invest. Last but not least, the most important point to consider is a simple truth, those in our society with investable funds can not be forced to invest, thus it remains their choice and they can only be enticed into action through incentives and favorable policies. A successful program of bringing widespread prosperity to the masses must come into agreement with these points, for there is no other way to accomplish this goal. Perhaps instead of critics having contempt for the wealthy for getting incentives to invest their money maybe they should focus instead on its resulting job creation. Unfortunately, that lesson will be a hard one to accept over the coming months and years in our nation as many people struggle to acknowledge it in light of declining prospects and living standards, yet our politicians will be more than happy to raise their objections in order to fuel more destructive class warfare.

As human beings we want to believe that health care is a right simply to demonstrate that we are creatures of compassion with a properly functioning moral compass. It would seem less than civilized to not consider health care to be an entitlement, but the truth is that such care must be provided by other citizens that also have rights and freedoms that must be respected. Simply transferring a right from one person to another is not doing anything for our society, nor will it ever. We humans have a great capacity to help others if it remains our choice to do so, but that becomes very limited once it is forced upon us. All of us have a right to pursue quality health care, but not at the expense of our fellow citizens. Adding this perspective to the dialogue paints a more comprehensive picture and accordingly it becomes obvious that health care can not be a right because it violates the rights of another; it should be viewed as a privilege to be “pursued” regardless of how uncaring or objectionable that may sound. It is an imperfect world that we live in and there is a cost to everything that must be paid, so it stands to reason that consumers should compensate providers for any goods or services they receive and not expect others to be obligated. Subscribing to this tried and true practice ensures that everyone’s rights remain intact thereby alleviating this whole debate.

It is interesting to note that the more the Government becomes involved, the more likely it will actually cause the downward pressure as private money flees the additional political risk, this results in even more bureaucratic intrusion that virtually ensures an “emergency” develops from the downward spiraling loop created. The stage has been set politically for this occurrence, and even though Americans are growing weary of public solutions to our economic problems, they will unlikely stand in opposition once a severe crisis appears that is perceived catastrophic and beyond the limits of any private solution. The truth is that it is never beyond the scope of private solutions that often call for strict measures to be administered in order to solve the difficulty, it remains to be seen if our public is willing to withstand that unpleasant reality. The choice will have to be made between suffering a severe private market solution that will conclude efficiently and with certainty or a prolonged ineffective effort from our Government at the enormous cost of our ongoing freedom. It is clear that socialism is looming and we are naively embracing it with our apathy believing that it will never really happen, or by turning to it after a sudden instigated emergency that initiates a panic, either way, we are being ushered to that eventual future that seems so coveted by the leaders we continue to elect. This will continue until the day we decide to reject this outcome by exercising our freedom to vote and remove those that covertly support socialism as an improvement. If not, then we should not be surprised at the result.

Our Government produces nothing, they create nothing, they have no ability to manage anything, they are simply a distribution system that takes from one element in society and gives to another as well as themselves in the process. Putting more of our economy in their control is simply irrational because it will just subject it to more waste, fraud and corruption. For all the times that our society states that capitalism has failed us, we should take a good hard look for how much of that failure was at the hands of our Government. Capitalism is just an economic system, a system that is based on freedom and choices, it is not centrally controlled thus the freedom of decisions is reserved for the people. With that said, it should also have rules of behavior established and subsequently enforced, and it is here that our Government fails us at every turn. Think of it like watching a football game, nobody wants to see a game without rules or officiating, but they do expect the game to be played freely within the established structure of rules with no excessive intrusion aside from normal enforcement, our economy should be handled in the same manner. It should have the freedom of choice provided by capitalism within an established framework provided by a responsible Government. However, corruption has grown to the point that this “rulemaking and officiating” responsibility is done according to what favor is being repaid or how it benefits them personally. The Government is more interested in paying off cronies or buying favor from interest groups to retain power than they are of serving the nation’s interest. There have been many laws and regulations introduced on the books, but they become worthless if selectively enforced. For all the suffering brought about by this economic downturn, there are certainly laws and/or regulations that would have prevented the calamity, but they were ignored for some political convenience even if detrimental to the overall system. Seriously flawed legislation is constantly being passed that caters to politically connected entities, and expedience is surely its origination. There is no economic system in this world that can survive incessant political corruption, and capitalism is no different, but in the absence of this repulsive conduct it has the best chance for providing the greatest amount of prosperity and freedom to a nation.

Another thought that comes to mind is if we truly believed that capitalism is unsound and responsible for this economic tragedy, what will then explain the failures going forward now that the Government has further exerted its intrusive bureaucracy? Any future devastation will not be unleashed by capitalism as it should become obvious that there is a much greater vehicle of destruction undermining us, that being our corrupt Government. As expected, it is rising to the occasion with wasteful stimulus programs, a crushing national debt, rising unemployment, decreased tax revenues, subsidizing failure, withering real estate values etc. These ruinous outcomes are resulting from Government failures, and they are likely to continue as the same agendas are being pursued unabated in the customary tradition of corruption. The irony presented in all this is that only capitalism can solve these enormous issues of our time, but it requires the foundation of a Government with integrity and devoid of corruption.

Free market capitalism has in no way failed; it is still the preeminent economic system that provides the highest standard of living for everyone which explains why so many other nations are increasingly applying its practices. The failure being experienced is our nation’s lack of appetite for the ramifications of the capitalistic model. Unfortunately, it periodically requires a downturn or recession in order to consolidate and strengthen winning businesses while simultaneously purging the substandard ones. This is the often-touted creative destruction process and it is essential to allow the best to proceed forward. Our society has become intolerant to the process of failure particularly when large organizations are concerned thus giving rise to the “too big to fail” concept. We instead have accepted the Government’s intervention of propping up failed institutions rather than allowing for the clearing process of failure to occur. Capitalism will eliminate the inefficient and reward the successful without any hesitation through an effective market mechanism, and any intervention of that process only distorts and lengthens the suffering involved. It is this type of intrusion that historically turns recessions into depressions. We are currently experiencing a purging process and it is left to be seen what the outcome will be from our Government spending trillions of dollars in a futile attempt to circumvent this reality. The true market will prevail in the end despite intentions otherwise, for it is only a matter of when and how much damage will be created by obstructing the recognition of this basic truth. Capitalism is indeed alive and well when it is allowed to function freely, and it will bring the fastest and most economical solutions to society despite any associated distress from its often swift execution. For our Government to proclaim that capitalism has failed is akin to thinking that the weather has failed because it is raining, but we should in fact know it is both necessary and constructive. The role of allocating resources can not and will not ever be accomplished efficiently by politicians spending our money attempting to pick winners and losers for our alleged wellbeing, only capitalism can accomplish that.

Many in our nation see the free market as a failure with businesses as the oppressors and Government as the emancipators who will fight for the common man and bring freedom from tyranny. The absurdity is that people are so willing to trade our free market system with businesses that are mostly competent and eager to serve the people for the Government that is extremely incompetent and inefficient at serving anyone but themselves. Corruption occasionally surfaces within business, but it is always present with Government. There are businesses that serve themselves and the most influential of their organization at the expense of people, but the Government absolutely defines self-interest with all its decisions being made accordingly. With all the negative press that business has received, it is easy to forget that the overwhelming majority of them operate very honestly providing jobs and products people desire. They are being judged every day in the market with their products by consumers voting with their dollars. Their number one goal is to satisfy their customers by providing a product we are willing to purchase, and they must deliver that satisfaction or they cease as a going concern. On the other hand, our Government has no such worry. They continually operate in their own interest by systematically increasing their control and providing for their own expansion. Their concern for the people is secondary to that objective since they are comfortable with the knowledge that there are no consequences. Their survival is not dependent on the day to day judgments in the marketplace; they do not even have to provide a service that is beneficial. History shows that our population continues to apathetically reelect incumbents repetitively, thus there is no motivation for them to serve the people honestly over their own interest.

We should give some serious thought to the notion that our Government will provide anything but destruction and poverty. It is better to have more freedom in the hands of many people and businesses as opposed to our Government that we know is corrupt, incompetent and destructive. Businesses do possess power that can trigger corruption at times, but Government has absolute power and it is absolutely corrupt all the time. Why would we want to entrust our future to such an organization when we know its outcome? Having power and control dispersed throughout society will provide a stronger foundation for everyone as opposed to having the Government decide everything for its own benefit and pushing it on us. We need to wake up in this nation and stop waiting for someone else to make life easier for us because that is nothing more than a utopian dream.