the Hijacking of Democracy by Capitalism

From: Hasan M Soedjono



Have you seen Michael Moore's "Capitalism: A Love Story"?
He goes through great lengths to drive home the point that the universally famous and admired US Bill of Rights (1776) has absolutely no reference whatsoever to Capitalism. Moore's research traces the specific terms Capitalism, Free Markets and Free Competition (as an American creed) to the mid 1930s. This is well over 150 years after the original US Constitution and Bill of Rights. President Franklin D. Roosevelt tried to counter this shift with "The Second Bill of Rights," which fine tuned the first one. It strives to strike that elusive balance between creating opportunity and still provide security. It also builds on America being by far the strongest super power in the world by that time. FDR died before his presidential term was up, and his initiative which was rapidly picking popular and political momentum fell through. By WW II's end, and most notably after the Korean War, the term capitalism managed to become synonymous with democracy.



Here are excerpts from Wikipedia about the forgotten Second Bill of Rights, also known as "The Economic Bill of Rights." It reflects and reinforces the principle that Social Justice should be an important part of the American Dream -- two political terms that are almost in total contradiction today, especially given the way the term democracy is currently interpreted. One wonders what the world would look like today if he lived to push it through.




The Economic Bill of Rights
Excerpt from President Roosevelt's January 11, 1944 message to the Congress of the United States on the State of the Union[1]:


It is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for the winning of a lasting peace and the establishment of an American standard of living higher than ever before known. We cannot be content, no matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people ”whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth” is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure.


This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights—among them the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and liberty.


As our nation has grown in size and stature, however as our industrial economy expanded these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.


We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. Necessitous men are not free men.
[2] People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.


In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all regardless of station, race, or creed.


Among these are:


The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;
The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
The right of every family to a decent home;
The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
The right to a good education.


All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.
America's own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for all our citizens.


For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world.




Perhaps the key issue isn't so much capitalism per se.
It is more how the fruits are distributed, to which government plays a key role. This includes who gets taxed how much, and how the proceeds get spent. In a historically ironic way, we can almost blame the hijacking of Democracy by Capitalism as a reaction to the hijacking of Socialism by Communism. Lenin and Stalin had presented the rest of the world with a worrisome picture of how things are done in a Communist state, than in the 1930s, 40s and 50s the general American public became very open to any economic concept that would counter totalitarian centrally planned economies. Capitalism seemed to fit that calling well. This explains how quickly the movement towards the Second Bill of Rights fizzled away. I am not a scholar of political science, let alone American modern history, so I am not saying that Capitalism is necessarily evil. But our learned minds in this distinguished mail list should feel comfortable with intellectual arguments that test our very basic assumptions on why things today are the way they are.




Wishing y'all a glorious Sunday,

-hms-




PS With thanks to mas Soegeng Prijono for the words below:


Bisikan seorang teman pada saya, yang akan saya bagi kepada anda jika berkenan:



Heavy rains remind us of challenges in life. Never ask for a lighter rain.
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When flood comes, fish eat ants & when flood recedes, ants eat fish. Only time matters.
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Be thankful in life....