End of Capitalism?

What do you do when a crazed lunatic says something that you actually find merit in? Do you take him off your list of crazed lunatics? Can we pick and choose amongst what rogue leaders of the universe do and say --- condemning most but salvaging some pearls of wisdom?

I'm talking about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the saber-rattling president of Iran. You know, he took the place of Saddam Hussein - whom the U.S. govt. toppled and had executed by his own people - as the Middle East's thorn in the side of the west.

In the last couple of years at least, he has emerged as the latest Middle East threat to free world leaders who worry about Iran's nuclear capabilities. Of course, Ahmadinejad insists his country is merely using nuclear capacity for peaceful (energy) purposes. But many world leaders wonder if they can trust him. But I digress. Let me get back to the point.

Mr. Ahmadenejad was in New York this week for meetings at the United Nations. In one of his speeches, he declared that "the discriminatory order of capitalism and the hegemonic approaches are facing defeat and are getting close to their end." Huh?

The global media reacted to his speech in such a way that one might conclude they've missed at least this aspect of his point. One international news source simply slipped this quote into a story that seemed to be more about the political and economic troubles of his country, Iran. (http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/65146/20100923/iran-sanctions-economy-gdp-inflation.htm) Perhaps in their zeal to continue painting him as a lunatic, they overlooked the fact that some of what he said may actually have merit.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a capitalist, Republican through and through. I realize that in the past couple hundred years, capitalism has accomplished so very much. But like all things meant for good, I see that capitalism's virtue can be perverted and have very negative consequences. There's no doubt in my mind that we are clearly on the path of that trajectory now.

While we can certainly extol the accomplishments of capitalism over the past few generations, anyone would be hard pressed to extol its virtues. The issue at hand is what capitalism costs us. Yes, you read that right. I think capitalism extracts a very high cost from society. I can point to at least three areas where capitalism is proving to be a very expensive proposition for society in general.

Overall Compensation

For starters, capitalism has a very polarizing impact on the financial demographics of society. Simply put, it's a transfer of wealth from the middle class to the rich. As a result, the rich get richer, and more get to be poor. Consider CEO compensation. In 1965, CEO pay was 26 times that of the average worker (in the same company). In 1980, it has climbed to 40 times. By 1989, CEO pay was 72 times that of the average worker. By 1999 it had mushroomed to 310 times. By 2004, CEO pay had absolutely exploded to more than 500 times what the average worker in the same company made! (Source: Towers Perrin)

Really? Is it possible that CEO's in a capitalistic society are worth more than 500 times what anyone else is worth? Did anyone else get raises like that? Put in real money terms, the median pay for an American CEO was almost $2.5 million in 1989. But 2000, the median pay for an American CEO was over $10.7 million. So in 11 years, corporate boards raised the annual salary of their CEO by more than 342%. How many of us have received, on average, an annual raise of over 31% year after year?

Now I don't begrudge anyone their wealth. What I have to take issue with though is wealth at the expense of others. Similar statistics on the average worker bee during the same periods of time are more than disappointing. They're downright frightening. More people are living on less. Standards of living are dropping. More and more people are unemployed or underemployed. And capitalism marches on. How long can we continue to pay the rich more and the middle or lower class less?

Debt

Both public and private debt are spiraling higher and higher and have been for years. It has been more than 40 years, for instance, since the U.S. federal government had any reduction in its debt. The national debt continues to climb at an increasing pace. Already today, the U.S. government debt is more than any other debt in the history of the world. Not only are we not making even the smallest dent in retiring that debt, but we're having an increasingly difficult time paying the interest on it. And we're having to borrow more and more.

It is estimated that at least one third of Americans have filed for bankruptcy at least once in their lifetime. And some of capitalism's biggest companies have filed for bankruptcy as well. Some more than once! And what happens, for example, when a corporation files bankruptcy? Today's newspaper features a business story on the fact that Blockbuster Videos is filing for bankruptcy, "slashing nearly $1 billion in debt." How exactly does it get slashed? Well, honest working people like you and me take it in the shorts! Seriously, our pension funds, mutual funds, and other investments lose big time. Blockbuster stores are closed and staff laid off. The CEO of Blockbuster? He gets a raise and bonus!

There's another insidious issue with corporate bankruptcies. In addition to sticking the middle class with the bad debts of these companies, the U.S. federal government often gets screwed in the process. I'm talking about unfunded pension liabilities. In corporate bankruptcies, the company walks on its obligations to its pension plan. The U.S. federal government, which insures those plans, is stuck paying the tab. (And the CEO of the company gets, on average, a raise of at least 32% that year.) Are you liking this yet?

Lay Offs

Now I'll be the first to admit that capitalism creates jobs. At least in its early stages of a new era. When the U.S. moved from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy, millions of jobs were created. When the U.S. moved from an industrial economy to an information economy, again jobs were created. While we mourned the loss of manufacturing jobs, those workers were re-skilled (trained) and probably ended up with better jobs than they had before.

However, when the U.S. started moving from an information (IT) economy to a services economy, it was like fingernails on a chalk board. Good paying IT jobs were lost. Replacing them? Low paying, often part-time jobs in big box stores. For the first time in several generations, the evolution of capitalism resulted in a massive loss of earning power.

Add to this dilemma the fact that capitalism's CEOs have become enamored with offshoring. They send their jobs overseas to third world countries where workers can be skilled enough to do the job, but will do it for a fraction of what the American worker was getting paid. And when the CEO moves these jobs offshore, two things happen.

First, his company's profitability improves (at least in the short term) - so the CEO gets a raise and/or bonus. Secondly, the laid off workers become a burden to society. They start collecting unemployment and welfare. They can't pay their bills. Capable, educated and skilled people are now no longer able to even support themselves. All in the name of capitalism.

So here's the thing. I'll be the first to recognize that Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad comes off looking like some sort of a buffoon most of the time. His ranting and raving are obviously tilted to his own warped agenda and myopic perspective. But when he says that capitalism has already seen its finest hour, I'm not so quick to dismiss him.

I am not an enemy of capitalism. I don't want to see capitalism defeated either. But I would be less than sincere if I didn't admit that I see capitalism, coupled with democracy, racing toward what seems like it will be a tragic end. Said differently, I don't know how this duo of capitalism and democracy can survive in their present state. They tend to live outside of reality, and the people who have to live inside of reality become their victims.

So maybe in the spirit of diversity we should at least consider reforming this bad boy that we call Capitalism. And while we're at it, could we teach his sister, Democracy, some manners?

Memorial Day

It's Memorial Day here in the United States. A national holiday, set aside for the nation to remember the fallen soldiers who, at least in theory, died fighting for the freedoms and the way of life that we all enjoy in our country. Driving around, we've seen flags flying. We've seen fire trucks and crowds at cemeteries, honoring the dead. There've been speeches by governors and even the president.

Some would argue that, in general, Americans take Memorial Day too lightly. It's always a three-day weekend (at least), and usually the spring-like weather is delightful. Americans head to the parks, beaches, picnics, lakes, and even back yards to barbecue, play yard games, go fishing, swim, water ski and a host of other outdoor activities. The naysayers are critical of all that fun. They think having all that fun means that Americans aren't remembering the soldiers who lost their lives for our freedoms at all.

I suppose on some levels, the naysayers have it right. Quite frankly, the notion of soldiers dying for our freedoms may seem like a pretty abstract notion to today's generations. I mean, we haven't had anyone die fighting for our freedom in a very long time. If our freedom has even been threatened by someone, we probably haven't been aware of it. The modern wars of Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq all seem like wars of someone else that we waded into. For some, the reason we even sent soldiers to these wars is unclear.

And therein lies the problem. Our national Memorial Day was supposed to be an annual time set aside to remember and honor those who lost their lives fighting for our freedoms --- our right to live the way we live in America today (and even tomorrow). So there are two questions that could be asked. In fact they should be asked.

The first is who specifically we are honoring. Is it true that all the soldiers who have died did so on behalf of America's freedom? Have all the wars that America waded into been a threat somehow to the freedom of Americans? I'm not so sure. Let's look at a couple of examples.

We fought on the Korean peninsula, for example, against communism. If we won that war, it isn't clear. Perhaps it's safe to say that we won half of that war. And now we do a brisk business with the communists in China. If North Korean communists would just learn some social skills like China did, I bet we'd do a brisk business with them too!

We fought in Vietnam, again against communism. If anyone thinks we won that war, they are probably delusional. Those of us who were alive when America pulled out of it thought we were winning just by walking away. And the country fell to the communists. Today, life goes on pretty much as normal. And Americans do a brisk and growing business with those communists as well.

So what exactly did the men (and women) who died in the Korean and Vietnamese wars die for? Would we all agree that it was for the freedoms and rights of Americans? Isn't that something we should all be in agreement about - if we're going to declare a national holiday to honor them?

The second question that needs to be asked ... and answered, is whether or not this national holiday actually achieves what it set out to do. Do we remember the fallen military on Memorial Day each year? Do we honor them. The country officially does, I know that. But do the people in the country actually do that? What about things like Memorial Day Sales, where mattresses and furniture go on sale? Does that honor the fallen soldiers? What about having a picnic and playing lawn tennis? Does that bring a solemn remembrance of the fallen soldiers? If we were really going to stand, as a nation, in remembrance of the fallen soldiers, is this the best foot we can put forward?

I'm grateful that I am an American citizen. I'm grateful for the life I get to live. While the future is intimidating, I realize my past has been very, very blessed. I pray that I can be worthy of the sacrifice that many have made to give me that blessed life. Now, if only I could know who those people specifically were ... and what I could do to be worthy ... I think my Memorial Day would be complete.

World Peace

She wrote it innocently enough. And what she wrote anyone could have written; many probably have. “I don’t think this country can stand four more years of a Republican government.” It was my sister, e-mailing me as we chatted about the upcoming presidential elections here in the U.S. Quite honestly, I don’t disagree with her either.

I voted for George W. Bush, twice. And yet something about his presidency leaves me with a sick feeling in my stomach. It’s as if we’ve done something wrong, missed the boat, and lost an opportunity. And now there will be hell to pay for it. (And for what its worth, I believe you can define hell to pay in as many ways as you want --- inflation, security, war, troubled economy, etc.) Is this what is meant when someone speaks of the fact that we cannot stand four more years?

But I have been thinking a lot lately about what is it that’s been so wrong about the Bush presidency. Quite honestly, the things I found wrong are things I’ve seen other countries do wrong as well. And the point I’m focused on is peace. Specifically England and the United States have been among the world’s greatest crusaders for peace. We’ve won more wars of significance. Evil regimes have been conquered, toppled. Great countries have been conquered and put under England’s rule --- only to be set free later.

In England, there is no separation of church and state. It is a decidedly Christian nation. The head of state is the head of church, and the two are – at least in theory – intertwined and not separable. The U.S. is of course much less so, but still and all – our constitution proudly forms a God-fearing nation. So I think it’s plausible to consider that when one of us goes to war, God is with us. At least that’s the principle of our foundations. There is evidence that we intended to be God’s people and live as godly nations.

Now the thing I notice is that when God’s people go to war, if they’ve gone to war with His instruction and at His command, He gives them favor. This is Biblical. Obedient, God-fearing people win the wars that God calls them to fight. But wait, there’s something else that happens. Or at least there’s something else that’s supposed to happen. You see, God doesn’t give us victory so that we can live at peace with our enemy. He expects the enemy to either repent and become one of us … or be destroyed.

Let’s look at some Scripture, where God called His people to war. Notice what He said they were to do with the enemies once they conquered them.

Exodus 23:24 - You must … utterly destroy them and smash their sacred pillars.

I don’t know about you, but utterly destroy sounds like a lot more than neuter. It sounds like a lot more than capture their leader and topple his statues.

Exodus 23:31-33 - And … I will hand over to you the people now living in the land … Make no treaties with them … They must not live in your land …

These are not your friends. Don’t live in denial, trying to pretend that they are. Their gods are different than yours. They value life differently than you do. Their morals and values are different than yours. You aren’t supposed to get along with them!

Exodus 34:12 - Be very careful never to make a treaty with the people who live in the land where you are going. …

Be very carefully never to make a treaty with the people we have defeated? That’s pretty clear. Is that how we’ve behaved? When we’ve asked God to give us favor in the wars we fight, are we prepared to follow His instructions after the war?

Numbers 33:55 - But if you fail to drive out the people who live in the land, those who remain will be like splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides. …

So if we fail to utterly destroy them, these people will hurt us. They will aggravate us. They will grieve us. Life with them will be difficult to understand, and even harder to endure. Thorns in your sides.

Deuteronomy 7:2 - When the LORD your God hands these nations over to you and you conquer them, you must completely destroy them. Make no treaties with them and show them no mercy.

No mercy. Mmmm. Is that an official policy of the U.N.? What would it look like to show an entire nation no mercy? The Old Testament is replete with war stories where God specifically instructed Joshua, for example, to kill every living being that he conquered. All the soldiers. All the men. All the women. All the children. Sometimes even all the donkeys! It gives meaning and context to God’s intent. And when Joshua obeyed, God was well pleased.

Deuteronomy 20:17 - You must completely destroy (your enemies) … just as the LORD your God has commanded you.

Completely destroy them. Utterly destroy them. This is God’s will? Interesting! Did you know that? Did you know that God could call His people to war, give them victory and expect them to utterly destroy their enemy? Let’s not mistake, folks, that this is the character and nature of the one true God. He will sacrifice many to save the whole. If it means that godly nations can live peaceably, devoted to God, then the enemies must be utterly destroyed.

So I wonder if we’re fighting for the wrong things. Did Jesus’ coming change God’s perspective? Were all of the countries that England had ruled supposed to be set free? (Many of them are NOT better off as independent nations, and some that haven’t been set free [i.e. Australia, Canada] have fared well under British rule.

When we went to Iraq, what did we think God wanted us to do there? When we’ve got into conflict with Cuba, what did God want? When the Soviet Union fell, what was God’s will? Do the leaders of the free world ask God? Are they having serious, intentional and frequent dialogue with God about how this world is supposed to function?

It seems to me that we’ve made treaties with a lot of our enemies. The Japanese have taken over our auto industry, 7-11 and own much of our real estate. The Chinese are certainly behaving like a thorn in our side. Putin continues to rattle his saber. The Palestinians and Israelis have been pissed off at each other forever. The Arabic world, for the most part, makes treaties with us – but doesn’t welcome us and engage in community with us. Is this how God wanted it?

You see, I’m coming to understand that the problem with peace treaties is that they seem innocent, noble and right. And yet, they can be very wrong. I share the desire for world peace. But the more I read my Bible, the more I comprehend that world peace may only be possible with the utter destruction of those who don’t value it. Utter destruction of those who are enemies of it.

Are we willing to pay such a price for world peace?