A Tribute to a Capitalist

I must say that I've never seen so many reckless fools than those demonstrating on Wall Street these days (and elsewhere, apparently).  Corporate greed? Tax their fair share? Crony capitalism? The cry for redistribution of wealth? Down with capitalism? When several are asked what's to replace it; none have answers that are coherently lucid. Some may argue for socialism to replace our current government. That's pretty scary (just in time for Halloween). These are graduate students for the most part, except for a few hollywood mouthpieces.  And it looks like they are rightfully angry over being unemployed after graduating from colleges, I suppose, that have enslaved them to student loans, many in excess of $100s of thousands of dollars.  I get the anger.  But if fools rush in; their contention, I believe, rests in the wrong places.  King Solomon would say in Proverbs 14: 15 & 16: "The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps. One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool is reckless and careless." 


I wonder if any have done their homework. These demonstrations seem timely with President Obama's recent speeches filled with pot stirring rhetoric about greedy corporate America.  Sounds good to those who are coveting and envious.  Bail outs, greed, social justice, unfair...what does this really mean? I suggest both greed & envy are defiling to a society.  And what is fair? Is life fair?  At least in our capitalist government there is an element of merited reward for hard work and that would seem fair, right? Inspire those greedy successful capitalists to charitably give to the weak and you have America taking care of those in need.  I think it's worked pretty well for some time when our society had unified benevolent beliefs.  


That's just one of many thoughts that begs the question: What do these folks think they're going to achieve?  They seem to be spouting off socialist beliefs for the most part - take from the so called wealthy and give to the have nots.  Eventually (I suggest), the cow that provides the milk dies and there's no more milk to give. Or the cow only has so much milk and can't feed all. So then what? Ration? Who says who's worthy to receive milk? Socialism pretends to be fair but I contend it is not.  And it needs unification for compliance.  What beliefs & values unite Americans today to support it? There seems huge chasms of disunity, divides that cannot be voluntarily agreed upon.  The unification necessary to achieve control for entitlement distribution in a socialist model is bred by oppression & tyranny over the governed.  History has confirmed that where ever it's been tried.


The closest model of socialism I can think of that is successful is that of the family. The breadwinners (parents) bring in the revenue (income) and redistribute it to those who are dependents by virtue of need and being a constituent (member) of the family unit. It works well as long as the breadwinners; (who control the spending of the revenue) have agreement with their constituents (the kids) with unselfish commitment to their welfare.  Arguments arise when breadwinners misappropriate spending perhaps, disaster strikes wiping out funds necessary or the constituents simply don't get what they want. But in the family unit; the values & traditions taught within the family unite them and it works well most of the time.  But not true on a larger scale. Anything bigger than a family unit finds it impossible to have agreement on how to distribute the funds or what is best in the welfare of dependents - as there's no real unselfish, benevolent commitment (sorry to burst your idealistic bubble). So how do we do this on a national level? We don't, we can't - it fails everywhere, every time it's been tried. 


I hope these folks who are demonstrating out there rethink their steps. I hope they use caution while exercising their right to voice complaints.  I hope they don't rush in (as fools do) and become pawns for those who may want to throw down our government and replace it with something worse.  Sometimes 'throwing the baby out with the bathwater' isn't prudent and destroys something of great value.  And I can't think of anything more valuable in our government than the gift of individual freedom.  It's what gave us inventions for prosperity that frankly had/has a global influence.  It allowed one capitalist, who in his pursuit of happiness acting upon that freedom, gave us an apple, which we consumed readily. His name was Steve Jobs.  


So, while these demonstrators are tweeting, social networking, playing those games through the applications on their Iphones and listening on their ipods to music through Itunes...think again, my friends, and rethink your steps.