CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY B-

Michael Moore's latest movie is disappointing. As most of us know, no one planned the economic system we have now. It came about through property rights guaranteed by the 5th Amendment of the US Constitution and the economic system that developed in the western world over hundreds of years. It's major flaw (my viewpoint) is that it assumes that all boats will rise as growth occurs. One has to question that assumption when looking at India.

What he points out in the movie is the corruption of governmental officials that occur with the system and what price some less fortunate Americans unknowingly pay for their love of capitalism. A love inculcated through lots of breast beating and the waving of the flag.

The most important part of the movie is when he shows us the road to social justice we imposed on the Germans, Italians and Japanese after WWII. It came about when we imposed Franklin Roosevelt's concept of an economic Bill Of Rights in their new constitutions after the war. Unfortunately, it was never incorporated in our constitution. THAT WOULD HAVE CHANGED OUR SOCIAL-ECONOMIC SYSTEM. Very sad story!!

THE ECONOMIC BILL OF RIGHTS: Excerpt from 11 January 1944 message to Congress on the State of the Union:

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.” 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 our citizens.

Source: The Public Papers & Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt (Samuel Rosenman, ed.), Vol XIII (NY: Harper, 1950), 40-42