Economists Agree: No New Economic Systems Will Ever Be Discovered
Mainstream economists have reached the conclusion that there are no
new economic systems to explore, and that from now on world leaders
will just have to tweak the patchwork of systems they have.
When asked about the comparatively recent discovery of binary
economics and its practical applications (ESOPs, Capital Homesteading
and Justice-Based Management), almost every economist interviewed
scoffed at the possibility of new developments, one even going so far
as to say, "Keynes said it, I believe it, and that settles it," and
another, "If God wanted us to explore a new economic system, he would
have told Keynes to tell us about it."
When reached for comment, Norman Kurland, president of the Center for
Economic and Social Justice, noted:
"Well, the core theory behind it HAS only been around for fifty years – I
guess we could wait another fifty for the mainstream to catch up - or
people could go to www.CESJ.org to learn more and start changing the
world now."
If you believe that there is more to discover in the field of
economics, please visit www.CESJ.org today.
***
Dear Mr. Wenner,
Obviously, the above "press release" is a parody at the expense of mainstream economists.
But there is truth backing it up, and so for you and Rolling Stone, this is an opportunity to break one of the biggest stories in history.
Because there IS a new and different economic system - binary economics - that could begin to close the rich/poor gap and spread capital ownership through this nation and the world. It's been around for 50 years, and it is the working basis for the ESOP, created by Louis Kelso. It is real.
All I ask is that one of your reporters look into this, call Norman Kurland, president of CESJ at 703-243-5155, read the material on CESJ.org, and see for yourself the potential of this "Just Third Way" between capitalism and socialism.
Start here to get a feel for this material:
A simple grid comparing systems:
http://cesj.org/thirdway/comparison3rdway.htm
The flyer for the book "Capital Homesteading"
http://cesj.org/publications/capitalhomesteading/whatif-flyer.pdf
The book, free of charge
http://cesj.org/thirdway/paradigmpapers/pressclub-nkmgdb-ppr.htm
After that, all the in-depth information you need is in Norm's head and in the CESJ.org library.
It may be that ONLY Rolling Stone could make this story happen. Please, take advantage of this opportunity to help turn the country and the world in a new, more hopeful direction.
With greatest respect,
Stephen Roy
Wellspring Productions
Mobile: 617-279-7669
http://richpoorgap.blogspot.com/
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Rich-Poor Gap Widens
A new reader forwarded this link to me:
Rich-Poor Gap Widens by Paul Campos
Over the past generation, much mainstream economic thought has assumed that what is good for rich people is good for America. Naturally, this view has tended to transform university economics departments and business schools into cheerleaders for the Republican Party.
Ask professor Pangloss of the University of Chicago what we ought to do about capital gains or the inheritance tax or unions, and he will dazzle you with equations supposedly demonstrating that the political outcomes sought by the wealthiest Americans are also best for society as a whole.
That, at any rate, is the current economic orthodoxy. How well does it reflect reality?...
Please go to this link for the remainder of this excellent article
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0502-30.htm
Rich-Poor Gap Widens by Paul Campos
Over the past generation, much mainstream economic thought has assumed that what is good for rich people is good for America. Naturally, this view has tended to transform university economics departments and business schools into cheerleaders for the Republican Party.
Ask professor Pangloss of the University of Chicago what we ought to do about capital gains or the inheritance tax or unions, and he will dazzle you with equations supposedly demonstrating that the political outcomes sought by the wealthiest Americans are also best for society as a whole.
That, at any rate, is the current economic orthodoxy. How well does it reflect reality?...
Please go to this link for the remainder of this excellent article
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0502-30.htm
"In any compromise between food and poison, it is only death that can win."
Hi Norm
Thanks for explaining your position on Rand. I'd like to take this opportunity to point out to anyone who still needs proof of your open mindedness that, inspite of your opinion of Rand's work in some areas, you still can see the value of other parts, and readily allow her voice to be added to the JTW Blog. Now that's a big tent, and you are to be commended for it.
I don't know that she was ever exposed to Kelso/Adler but, though I think you are correct that she probably would not support the JTW, her theory of capitalism began with this most basic definition:
"Capitalism is a social system based on the recognition of individual rights, including property rights, in which all property is privately owned." Ayn Rand
Nothing there to automatically preclude her support, in my opinion.
However, to quote her again:
"When I say “capitalism,” I mean a full, pure, uncontrolled, unregulated laissez-faire capitalism—with a separation of state and economics, in the same way and for the same reasons as the separation of state and church." Ayn Rand
So, I think it's safe to say she would not approve of the current state of affairs, either. As she pointed out, the system we are suffering under now is 'mixed capitalism.' Few people care to acknowledge that the system we are mixing capitalism with is socialism. It is that part of the mixture that is killing us, not the capitalist part, though capitalism is blamed for the failure. But as Rand so correctly pointed out:
"In any compromise between food and poison, it is only death that can win. In any compromise between good and evil, it is only evil that can profit." Ayn Rand
I don't intend to continue viewing this issue through her lens, except for this observation:
Her philosophy, Objectivism, lays out actual proof that capitalism is the economic system that is most consonant with freedom and justice. No one needs to wonder if there's another system out there somewhere that we're missing. The ideal is some form of capitalism that preserves that freedom and that justice. I believe that Binary Economics and the Just Third Way are the only way forward.
It would be great if Objectivists and Libertarians could see this clearly and join us in what is in my opinion one of the final battles for the survival of the capitalist system.
Thanks for explaining your position on Rand. I'd like to take this opportunity to point out to anyone who still needs proof of your open mindedness that, inspite of your opinion of Rand's work in some areas, you still can see the value of other parts, and readily allow her voice to be added to the JTW Blog. Now that's a big tent, and you are to be commended for it.
I don't know that she was ever exposed to Kelso/Adler but, though I think you are correct that she probably would not support the JTW, her theory of capitalism began with this most basic definition:
"Capitalism is a social system based on the recognition of individual rights, including property rights, in which all property is privately owned." Ayn Rand
Nothing there to automatically preclude her support, in my opinion.
However, to quote her again:
"When I say “capitalism,” I mean a full, pure, uncontrolled, unregulated laissez-faire capitalism—with a separation of state and economics, in the same way and for the same reasons as the separation of state and church." Ayn Rand
So, I think it's safe to say she would not approve of the current state of affairs, either. As she pointed out, the system we are suffering under now is 'mixed capitalism.' Few people care to acknowledge that the system we are mixing capitalism with is socialism. It is that part of the mixture that is killing us, not the capitalist part, though capitalism is blamed for the failure. But as Rand so correctly pointed out:
"In any compromise between food and poison, it is only death that can win. In any compromise between good and evil, it is only evil that can profit." Ayn Rand
I don't intend to continue viewing this issue through her lens, except for this observation:
Her philosophy, Objectivism, lays out actual proof that capitalism is the economic system that is most consonant with freedom and justice. No one needs to wonder if there's another system out there somewhere that we're missing. The ideal is some form of capitalism that preserves that freedom and that justice. I believe that Binary Economics and the Just Third Way are the only way forward.
It would be great if Objectivists and Libertarians could see this clearly and join us in what is in my opinion one of the final battles for the survival of the capitalist system.
Norm's comment on the last post
Thanks, Steve. I too found Ayn Rand's position against statism compelling, but I found her position in defense of selfishness as a virtue morally obnoxious. Self-interest is imbedded in human nature, but selfishness and greed go beyond healthy self-interest to represent gain at someone else's expense. I wish she and today's libertarians were as open-minded as you to the Kelso-Adler books.
Steve, would you consider trying to open up the minds of Lew Rockwell (Lew Rockwell) and his Mises Foundation members to your thoughts? Rockwell and others in his libertarian network need to hear your views. Unfortunately, they seem to be blind to the systemic barriers to equal ownership opportunities and to the reason libertarians cannot connect up to most voters are wage slaves, welfare slaves and debt slaves whose lives are so desperate that they turn to the state for their economic salvation. That's why I no longer use the term "capitalism" to describe the just market system America and the world needs to avoid the totalitarian trap into which Keynesian, laissez faire and socialist economic high priests are leading us.
Mike, please post Steve's piece on our Just Third Way blog. You can add my thoughts as a comment to Steve's excellent piece.
Own or Be Owned,
Norm
Steve, would you consider trying to open up the minds of Lew Rockwell (Lew Rockwell
Mike, please post Steve's piece on our Just Third Way blog. You can add my thoughts as a comment to Steve's excellent piece.
Own or Be Owned,
Norm
Time for Atlas to Shrug?
I don't think Ayn Rand would approve of anything other than laissez faire capitalism as the proper economic structure of a nation, but I do think something that could stop and reverse the relentless march to collectivism in her beloved adopted country would interest her. I believe that binary economics and the Just Third Way could be that something.
Rand knew well the horror of collectivism, or communism, or socialism (all the same principle) because she escaped from Russia and watched with the world as the Iron Curtain descended. A friend wrote to her, asking her to tell people that the USSR was a graveyard, and that they were all dying slowly. She fought as hard as one person could to tell that story, constructing an entire philosophy, Objectivism, that was reality-based, and exposing collectivism for the horror that it was and is.
Using that philosophy, she searched for the economic system that would best support freedom and dignity for Man. She proved that only capitalism could offer that freedom and prosperity, and held that only the purest form, laissez faire capitalism, would be acceptable, because anything else would be contaminated with collectivist structures. People would then blame capitalism, when the real culprit was collectivism. (see "Capitalism, The Unknown Ideal").
Funny - that's what some people are claiming now. That the current crisis proves that capitalism is a sham, that putting the financial system under government control is the only answer.
As if enough millions haven't died already proving that to be a bloody path to hell.
As if there wasn't any other alternative, when we know damn well there is, and has been for over fifty years.
Louis Kelso and Mortimer Adler worked it out in The Capitalist Manifesto (available for free at the www.cesj.org library). I read the book in the 70's and immediately got the message, though I was totally unschooled in economics. I was elated that there was a new way, a third way, that could usher in a new era for us all. Surely the powers that be would see it. Surely they would follow up with sophisticated econometric models that would prove the validity of the theory, and apply it for the good of all.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think that 30 years later, I would bring up the topic and be regarded with totally blank stares from people who should have at least heard about Kelso and Adler. But such is the bankruptcy of the field of economics. In it's current state it is not a science - it is a witch hunt in reverse, desperately trying to muddy the waters and obscure any clear view of the third alternative, Binary Economics, or the Just Third Way. As if ignoring it would make it go away. And they almost succeeded - The Capitalist Manifesto is out of print and ignored, and Keynes still rules from beyond the grave, still poisoning us all with his fatally flawed theories.
I'll leave alone for the moment the obvious conclusion - that the people with most of the real wealth, that monopolize the ownership of the most capital, are perfectly happy that up until now, the people don't know about any of this. Too bad for them that Norm, CESJ, The Kelso Institute and all the other hardworking people in this movement refused to let the dream die. Now there is a new kind of capitalism, that robs no one, that distributes capital throughout the citizenry, that could put real purchasing power, not more debt, into the hands of all Americans and world citizens alike.
Here's an open challenge to economists everywhere - put Binary Economics on the table from now on as a valid choice for the economic structure of a nation, put in as much work proving it true or false as you do making excuses for the failures of Keynes' theories - or stop thinking of yourselves as scientists, and start thinking of yourselves as witch doctors. Because true scientists examine ALL new ideas. They LIVE to be proved wrong so the truth can finally be known. Witch doctors continue shaking old bones over the dying man, hoping that he gets better - somehow.
In Atlas Shrugged, the "men of the mind" withdraw their intelligence and effort from the world when the witch doctors and government stooges make life impossible to live with dignity. They allow the old world to collapse under it's own dead weight, and go back to the world only after the way is clear.
Maybe it's time to take a second look at that strategy.
Big Banking, we have not heard a word of apology from any of you. With the help of the dirtiest, most inhuman administration in history, you have raided the treasury - our children's future - of billions that were supposed to be put back into the economy and sat on them as "padding," refusing to lend any of it. You can't even say where some of it ended up.
Let me guess.
In my opinion, all those who participated are traitors. You mismanaged trillions knowing the government would have to bail you out, surely stuffed piles of it into off-shore shelters, and mortgaged all our futures for decades to come.
If it was done to us by a foreign country, it would be an act of war. Economic terrorism.
Because it was done by Americans, to Americans, I say it is treason, and should be treated accordingly.
Respectfully submitted
Steve Roy
Rand knew well the horror of collectivism, or communism, or socialism (all the same principle) because she escaped from Russia and watched with the world as the Iron Curtain descended. A friend wrote to her, asking her to tell people that the USSR was a graveyard, and that they were all dying slowly. She fought as hard as one person could to tell that story, constructing an entire philosophy, Objectivism, that was reality-based, and exposing collectivism for the horror that it was and is.
Using that philosophy, she searched for the economic system that would best support freedom and dignity for Man. She proved that only capitalism could offer that freedom and prosperity, and held that only the purest form, laissez faire capitalism, would be acceptable, because anything else would be contaminated with collectivist structures. People would then blame capitalism, when the real culprit was collectivism. (see "Capitalism, The Unknown Ideal").
Funny - that's what some people are claiming now. That the current crisis proves that capitalism is a sham, that putting the financial system under government control is the only answer.
As if enough millions haven't died already proving that to be a bloody path to hell.
As if there wasn't any other alternative, when we know damn well there is, and has been for over fifty years.
Louis Kelso and Mortimer Adler worked it out in The Capitalist Manifesto (available for free at the www.cesj.org library). I read the book in the 70's and immediately got the message, though I was totally unschooled in economics. I was elated that there was a new way, a third way, that could usher in a new era for us all. Surely the powers that be would see it. Surely they would follow up with sophisticated econometric models that would prove the validity of the theory, and apply it for the good of all.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think that 30 years later, I would bring up the topic and be regarded with totally blank stares from people who should have at least heard about Kelso and Adler. But such is the bankruptcy of the field of economics. In it's current state it is not a science - it is a witch hunt in reverse, desperately trying to muddy the waters and obscure any clear view of the third alternative, Binary Economics, or the Just Third Way. As if ignoring it would make it go away. And they almost succeeded - The Capitalist Manifesto is out of print and ignored, and Keynes still rules from beyond the grave, still poisoning us all with his fatally flawed theories.
I'll leave alone for the moment the obvious conclusion - that the people with most of the real wealth, that monopolize the ownership of the most capital, are perfectly happy that up until now, the people don't know about any of this. Too bad for them that Norm, CESJ, The Kelso Institute and all the other hardworking people in this movement refused to let the dream die. Now there is a new kind of capitalism, that robs no one, that distributes capital throughout the citizenry, that could put real purchasing power, not more debt, into the hands of all Americans and world citizens alike.
Here's an open challenge to economists everywhere - put Binary Economics on the table from now on as a valid choice for the economic structure of a nation, put in as much work proving it true or false as you do making excuses for the failures of Keynes' theories - or stop thinking of yourselves as scientists, and start thinking of yourselves as witch doctors. Because true scientists examine ALL new ideas. They LIVE to be proved wrong so the truth can finally be known. Witch doctors continue shaking old bones over the dying man, hoping that he gets better - somehow.
In Atlas Shrugged, the "men of the mind" withdraw their intelligence and effort from the world when the witch doctors and government stooges make life impossible to live with dignity. They allow the old world to collapse under it's own dead weight, and go back to the world only after the way is clear.
Maybe it's time to take a second look at that strategy.
Big Banking, we have not heard a word of apology from any of you. With the help of the dirtiest, most inhuman administration in history, you have raided the treasury - our children's future - of billions that were supposed to be put back into the economy and sat on them as "padding," refusing to lend any of it. You can't even say where some of it ended up.
Let me guess.
In my opinion, all those who participated are traitors. You mismanaged trillions knowing the government would have to bail you out, surely stuffed piles of it into off-shore shelters, and mortgaged all our futures for decades to come.
If it was done to us by a foreign country, it would be an act of war. Economic terrorism.
Because it was done by Americans, to Americans, I say it is treason, and should be treated accordingly.
Respectfully submitted
Steve Roy
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Open letter to Tom Ashbrook at OnPoint
Hi. Thanks for stopping by...
This is a letter I sent to Tom Friedman at the New York Times, which I modified and re-sent to Tom Ashbrook at OnPointradio.com.
Dear Tom
If you are interested in helping turn this country around, you could
devote a program or two to the work of civil rights champion,
attorney, and economist Norman Kurland, president of the Center for
Economic and Social Justice in Washington, DC. Dr. Kurland has been
promoting a true third way in economics, called the Just Third Way,
based on the work of Louis Kelso, the creator of the ESOP, and famed
American philosopher Mortimer Adler.
Dr. Kurland is an amazing man who co-founded the Center for Economic
and Social Justice — www.cesj.org — specifically to promote a
departure from the debilitating legacy of John Maynard Keynes, and
offer a logical new alternative that would expand capital ownership to
include all Americans, not just a wealthy few.
As even the mainstream media pick up stories about the end of Keynes'
now-discredited, debt-based economic model, one finds many saying
capitalism is dead, and that socialism is all that's left. It is not.
For over 50 years there has been a proposed alternate system that
almost no one has spoken openly about.
In my opinion, the lack of discussion of this topic by mainstream
economists invalidates any claim they might make that economics is a
science. If it is a science, then let's put ALL the options on the
table and test them. If not, then call it what it is - a scam on all
of us.
Tom, I know you are an honest broker of information, so I ask you to
pick up this challenge:
Look at the material on cesj.org. Call Norm — he is accessible and
ready to respond at almost any time — do your due diligence, and then
report what you find to the world. You will be breaking what may be
the most important news since the first American Revolution
established the concept of political freedom — the announcement of a
Second American Revolution that will establish a concept of economic
freedom and justice without which the first revolution cannot be
sustained.
I pray you move quickly, before it's too late and, in our panic and
uncertainty, we contaminate our economy with even more socialism than
it already has. How ironic if the United States of America were to be
relegated to the dustbin of history as just another failed
collectivist State in the end.
Respectfully,
Steve Roy
An additional comment:
I'm using the Rich/Poor Gap approach to try to get through to people who
know little or nothing about economics in a simple, direct way they
can relate to. I count myself among that number, especially in
comparison to Norm, Patricia, CESJ, The Kelso Institue and all the
other great people in this movement, but therein may lie a strength.
My goal is to bring this concept to a large audience, and to do that,
the explanations must be simple, clear, and full of common sense.
Thanks to all of you, anyone wanting the specifics now has several
reliable sources for accurate information. My job, as I see it, is to
leave the breadcrumbs along the trail that leads to that knowledge.
Apologies in advance for the lack of recent postings here -
- guess I'd better get writing again!
Thanks again for your support.
Steve Roy
This is a letter I sent to Tom Friedman at the New York Times, which I modified and re-sent to Tom Ashbrook at OnPointradio.com.
Dear Tom
If you are interested in helping turn this country around, you could
devote a program or two to the work of civil rights champion,
attorney, and economist Norman Kurland, president of the Center for
Economic and Social Justice in Washington, DC. Dr. Kurland has been
promoting a true third way in economics, called the Just Third Way,
based on the work of Louis Kelso, the creator of the ESOP, and famed
American philosopher Mortimer Adler.
Dr. Kurland is an amazing man who co-founded the Center for Economic
and Social Justice — www.cesj.org — specifically to promote a
departure from the debilitating legacy of John Maynard Keynes, and
offer a logical new alternative that would expand capital ownership to
include all Americans, not just a wealthy few.
As even the mainstream media pick up stories about the end of Keynes'
now-discredited, debt-based economic model, one finds many saying
capitalism is dead, and that socialism is all that's left. It is not.
For over 50 years there has been a proposed alternate system that
almost no one has spoken openly about.
In my opinion, the lack of discussion of this topic by mainstream
economists invalidates any claim they might make that economics is a
science. If it is a science, then let's put ALL the options on the
table and test them. If not, then call it what it is - a scam on all
of us.
Tom, I know you are an honest broker of information, so I ask you to
pick up this challenge:
Look at the material on cesj.org. Call Norm — he is accessible and
ready to respond at almost any time — do your due diligence, and then
report what you find to the world. You will be breaking what may be
the most important news since the first American Revolution
established the concept of political freedom — the announcement of a
Second American Revolution that will establish a concept of economic
freedom and justice without which the first revolution cannot be
sustained.
I pray you move quickly, before it's too late and, in our panic and
uncertainty, we contaminate our economy with even more socialism than
it already has. How ironic if the United States of America were to be
relegated to the dustbin of history as just another failed
collectivist State in the end.
Respectfully,
Steve Roy
An additional comment:
I'm using the Rich/Poor Gap approach to try to get through to people who
know little or nothing about economics in a simple, direct way they
can relate to. I count myself among that number, especially in
comparison to Norm, Patricia, CESJ, The Kelso Institue and all the
other great people in this movement, but therein may lie a strength.
My goal is to bring this concept to a large audience, and to do that,
the explanations must be simple, clear, and full of common sense.
Thanks to all of you, anyone wanting the specifics now has several
reliable sources for accurate information. My job, as I see it, is to
leave the breadcrumbs along the trail that leads to that knowledge.
Apologies in advance for the lack of recent postings here -
- guess I'd better get writing again!
Thanks again for your support.
Steve Roy
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
A Third Way
What if you were to find out that your doctor only told you two of the three ways he could treat your condition, and that he withheld information from you about a potentially superior " third way" because, in spite of the evidence, he just didn't believe in the treatment or even fully understand it?
What if you found out about this after your quality of life had suffered a devastating blow? Would you have grounds for a malpractice suit?
I'll leave that determination to the lawyers, but I think it's safe to say most people would be very angry and ready to make that doctor pay for his mistake.
Well, that is the very situation you are in now with regard to the economic life of our nation. There is a false battle between capitalism and collectivism (or socialism). False because there is a Third Way - what some call a "Just Third Way" - to revolutionize the economic structure of the USA and indeed any other country. You haven't heard about it, but the economic gurus that flood the airwaves with circular logic and grey, approximate statements about what's causing this or that disaster DO know. They just don't choose to tell you about it.
Yet there are examples of this Third economic structure at work right now - ever heard of Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)? They are based on the economic theory that I'm describing here. And this theory, properly expanded and structured, could be, and I will say here, MUST be - the only way to survive the current economic crisis and the many more that are destined to follow as the rich/poor gap expands.
Because in the end, in negative reaction to what they have been told is "capitalism" (which it's not - it's mixed capitalism with government interference at best) to save themselves and their children, the people will vote in the only other economic structure they know of - Collectivism/Socialism/Communism. They will vote themselves into slavery.
How do you structure an economy with this Third Way? It's simple -
Don't allow all capital (stock) ownership to concentrate in the hands of the few that already own most of the available capital
Don't put all the capital ownership in the hands of the state (for God's sake!)
Instead, distribute capital ownership among the population so they can earn money in BOTH of the ways wealth is created - labor and capital ownership. Structure the economy so they can purchase a small amount of the billions in new capital generated every year with the earnings it generates over time. Pay off the company that issues the stock, and the banks that lend the money to purchase them. Eventually, this capital will become a growing revenue stream for them. You will give away or re-distribute NOTHING. Indeed, IMHO this plan could begin to eliminate transfer payments as people earn their way with the income from their capital ownership - not the money taxed from others.
The plan mirrors Abraham Lincoln's Homestead Act of 1862. Then, land was capital - the only capital. Now, the universe of technology that keeps our economy moving is the capital, represented by stock in those companies that use it.
But the principles of Lincoln's bold initiative remain sound.
The answers to all your questions about this economic structure exist now, and have existed since 1958. It is a crime that you don't know about them - a crime against you, your children, and your country.
Go to these links to find out more:
A simple chart comparing Capitalism, Socialism and the Just Third Way
http://cesj.org/thirdway/comparison3rdway.htm
___________________________
The books by Louis Kelso and Mortimer Adler that started it all:
The Capitalist Manifesto
http://www.kelsoinstitute.org/pdf/cm-entire.pdf
The New Capitalists: A Proposal to Free Economic Growth from the Slavery of Savings
http://www.kelsoinstitute.org/pdf/nc-entire.pdf
___________________________
The flyer
http://www.capitalhomestead.com/
___________________________
The free online book about the mechanics of it all:
http://cesj.org/homestead/capitalhomesteading.pdf
___________________________
The only organization with the courage and vision to keep trying to bring this information to you for almost 25 years.
www.CESJ.org
This is as significant as any scientific discovery in history, because the problems it addresses reach into every corner of the world. It is the engine that will take us to the stars, allow us to clean up the environment, feed the hungry, eliminate terrorism.- all of it, in one simple package. Read about it. You'll see.
Steve Roy
What if you found out about this after your quality of life had suffered a devastating blow? Would you have grounds for a malpractice suit?
I'll leave that determination to the lawyers, but I think it's safe to say most people would be very angry and ready to make that doctor pay for his mistake.
Well, that is the very situation you are in now with regard to the economic life of our nation. There is a false battle between capitalism and collectivism (or socialism). False because there is a Third Way - what some call a "Just Third Way" - to revolutionize the economic structure of the USA and indeed any other country. You haven't heard about it, but the economic gurus that flood the airwaves with circular logic and grey, approximate statements about what's causing this or that disaster DO know. They just don't choose to tell you about it.
Yet there are examples of this Third economic structure at work right now - ever heard of Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)? They are based on the economic theory that I'm describing here. And this theory, properly expanded and structured, could be, and I will say here, MUST be - the only way to survive the current economic crisis and the many more that are destined to follow as the rich/poor gap expands.
Because in the end, in negative reaction to what they have been told is "capitalism" (which it's not - it's mixed capitalism with government interference at best) to save themselves and their children, the people will vote in the only other economic structure they know of - Collectivism/Socialism/Communism. They will vote themselves into slavery.
How do you structure an economy with this Third Way? It's simple -
Don't allow all capital (stock) ownership to concentrate in the hands of the few that already own most of the available capital
Don't put all the capital ownership in the hands of the state (for God's sake!)
Instead, distribute capital ownership among the population so they can earn money in BOTH of the ways wealth is created - labor and capital ownership. Structure the economy so they can purchase a small amount of the billions in new capital generated every year with the earnings it generates over time. Pay off the company that issues the stock, and the banks that lend the money to purchase them. Eventually, this capital will become a growing revenue stream for them. You will give away or re-distribute NOTHING. Indeed, IMHO this plan could begin to eliminate transfer payments as people earn their way with the income from their capital ownership - not the money taxed from others.
The plan mirrors Abraham Lincoln's Homestead Act of 1862. Then, land was capital - the only capital. Now, the universe of technology that keeps our economy moving is the capital, represented by stock in those companies that use it.
But the principles of Lincoln's bold initiative remain sound.
The answers to all your questions about this economic structure exist now, and have existed since 1958. It is a crime that you don't know about them - a crime against you, your children, and your country.
Go to these links to find out more:
A simple chart comparing Capitalism, Socialism and the Just Third Way
http://cesj.org/thirdway/comparison3rdway.htm
___________________________
The books by Louis Kelso and Mortimer Adler that started it all:
The Capitalist Manifesto
http://www.kelsoinstitute.org/pdf/cm-entire.pdf
The New Capitalists: A Proposal to Free Economic Growth from the Slavery of Savings
http://www.kelsoinstitute.org/pdf/nc-entire.pdf
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The flyer
http://www.capitalhomestead.com/
___________________________
The free online book about the mechanics of it all:
http://cesj.org/homestead/capitalhomesteading.pdf
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The only organization with the courage and vision to keep trying to bring this information to you for almost 25 years.
www.CESJ.org
This is as significant as any scientific discovery in history, because the problems it addresses reach into every corner of the world. It is the engine that will take us to the stars, allow us to clean up the environment, feed the hungry, eliminate terrorism.- all of it, in one simple package. Read about it. You'll see.
Steve Roy
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