Sam,
RE: "Economics has a way of excusing minor dislocations when they are necessary to achieve major goals." and "Are you postulating that
economics is destroying democracy in America? Economics neither creates, nor destroys."
Sam and Cary make widgets. Sam makes them better and cheaper, so Cary goes bankrupt, becomes an alcoholic, and eventually commits suicide.
Economics didn't harm Cary, but economic theory supports the propriety of Cary's bankruptcy and accepts the "minor dislocation" to one man's life as the consquence of a system that "optimizes" the benefits to all.
RE: "Economies tend to thrive in democracies...Rigid command economies cannot compete and must adapt or die."
I think you are mixing democracy vs. totalitarianism and capitalism vs. socialism. Economies tend to thrive in laissez-faire capitalist systems and I suspect your "Rigid command economies" are referring to socialist systems. My concern is that laissez-faire capitalism functions best in a variety of what was once called a fascist system. The government and business collude to waste natural resources, pollute the environment, export labor to the lowest cost country without regard to wages, living conditions, hours of work, or age of worker, bust unions, eliminate welfare, criminalize immigrants, oppose health care for all, etc. in order to build the "strongest" economy. I can get carried away on this subject!
Cary |
