Malcolm: Nice identification of error, but: Who are you
calling capitalist? Big donors include many who made their money in business, not to mention business PACs, but making money in the U.S. doesn't mean they are capitalists. They are corporate statists in deed and likely in theory too--to the extent they think about more than where their next chance lies to embed themselves in a state-protected niche of what most mistakenly call a free market. Very few capitalists around today as a percentage of voters, in the true, free market sense.
Then add to the corporatist jackals the flocks of donors to PACs and campaigns that would further tear down free markets because collectivism is their religion and its political exponents are their priests. We're left with a statistically insignificant few who really want small government, fierce in defense but benign toward those who don't threaten us, in line with the core values on which our nation was founded. The result is a parade of ignorant, venal, or live-for-the-moment statists, whom we've had as politicians my entire life. They are just giving the majority what the majority want, or can be led to think they want. No capitalists in the crowd.
elmat pegged the phenomenon in a recent post: The case of the countries that got rich and them decided that they had to redistribute hard won wealth to buy votes, which is the case of NZ, Canada, Australia and most western Europe.
It's the wolves getting domesticated, lying down with the sheep, and being fed by the farmer. The U.S. is behind Europe, but with our disaster-in-waiting fiscal and monetary policies, all we need is time. |
