The short answer is YES. But there are some issues that need to be remedied.

I’m reminded of a Churchill quote to the effect “…it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” The same can be said for capitalism as the economic model of choice.

Over my professional career, I’ve tried to avoid branding myself as a conservative or liberal or anywhere else on the political spectrum. It was to avoid offending a potential or existing client and having them take their business elsewhere. Today, not so much.

In today political climate, any suggestion that capitalism is less than perfect draws shouts of socialism, often by those who have little clue about socialism. If you enter ‘socialism defined’ into Google, you discover that it’s not exclusively an economic theory but also a political theory. In Marxist terms, it’s describes the transitional period between the overthrow of capitalism and the realization of communism. In other words, the irrelevance of individual rights in favor of collective rights.

No one running for office today is suggesting the overthrow of democracy and the dissolution of capitalism as the economic model for our society. To say otherwise is to pander to ignorance.

What I’m trying to say is that unfettered capitalism, ie capitalism in it’s purest form where individual rights are paramount and society has virtually no responsibility to the collective wishes of those who comprise our society, can be as dangerous and insidious as unfettered communism.

I believe society has a responsibility to sustain and preserve itself. In days past, it might have been a tribal group of human like organisms attempting to feed, sustain and survive in a perilous landscape, all the way to people like you and I who are attempting to feed, sustain and survive in a perilous landscape, defined as the 50 states that comprise the United States.

We’ve evolved to agree that we should have an ordered world, one where there are rules and regulations on ourselves designed to serve as restraints. On one end are such things as deciding we should all drive our cars on the same side of the road, to perhaps on the other end, making sure that someone with monopoly control of medicine to control diabetes doesn’t have the ability to deny benefits purely on their ability to pay. Somewhere on that spectrum are the rules we’ve adopted to satisfy the needs of society to sustain and preserve itself.

The argument is not capitalism vs socialism, but where on that spectrum do our collective wishes as members of society override our rights as individuals. Is it reasonable for our collective rights to prevail over our individual rights from time to time? I think we’ve long since agreed that is so. Or do you want permission to drive on the left side?

Personally, I think we need to address a number of pressing issues. Among them are wealth inequality which is getting more extreme, education as a means to gain economic leverage as individuals, allowing and encouraging everyone one of us to vote and participate in establishing our collective rights, provided we’ve met the existing test of being a certified member of society. And don’t forget the collective right of society members to be less afraid of an untimely death by firearm.

I don’t live day to day in fear for myself. I am, however, afraid of the world my grandchildren will inherit if we don’t move toward a more collective value system. Whether it be climate change, or a more equitable way to pay for health care, we are today watching and witnessing a healthy re-evaluation of the issues above and the values that have served us well for 250 plus years.

No one from across the planet not already certified should be allowed to influence the outcome. Those in our society who do condone such behavior should be disqualified from participating.

Tony Kendzior \ June 24, 2019