Update to Democratic Capitalism: A Socio-Economic System For America And The World

[Rev. Bill McGinnis]

Keywords: Democratic Capitalism Democracy Free Markets Government
Practical Regulation Social Justice Public Interest Common Interest
Total Happiness Of Mankind Democratic Capitalism Model Socio-Economic
System For America And The World




Democratic Capitalism: A Socio-Economic System For America And The
World
www.DemocraticCapitalism.org


By Rev. Bill McGinnis, Director - LoveAllPeople.org
Search our pages => http://loveallpeople.org/searchallpages.html

Rev. October 14, 2011

NOTE: More information coming soon!


WELCOME TO THE INSTITUTE FOR DEMOCRATIC CAPITALISM:
Presenting "Democratic Capitalism: A Socio-Economic System For America
And The World."

"Democratic Capitalism" is the practical fusion of Capitalism and
Democracy, in which the free market productive benefits of Capitalism
are merged with the social justice benefits of Democracy, resulting in
"the greatest good for the greatest number, with basic rights for
all."
In the USA, this fusion has grown up within a social/cultural
environment of common shared values, including: belief in certain
human rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness; belief in the political equality of all citizens; the right
to own private property, including real estate; the right to enter
into contracts; various other rights of personal freedom, including
freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of association;
and recognition of a Divine Being, who created mankind for His own
purposes and Who gave all of these rights to man, for the benefit of
mankind.

Without these shared values -- or something very similar to them -- it
would be unreasonable to expect that Democratic Capitalism could
succeed.

For more about Democracy, please see =>
http://www.lifeofgeorgewashington.org/supersearch-democracy.html
For more about Capitalism, please see =>
http://www.lifeofgeorgewashington.org/supersearch-capitalism.html

For more about Democratic Capitalism, please see =>
http://www.lifeofgeorgewashington.org/supersearch-democraticcapitalism.html


THE SIX PURPOSES OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT

The six purposes of the United States Government are clearly announced
in the very first words of the United States Constitution . . .

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more
perfect Union, establish
Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common
defence, promote the
general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to
ourselves and our Posterity,
do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States
of America."

Source: The Constitution Of The United States, shown at
http://www.loveallpeople.org/usconstitution.html
And these six purposes can be numbered (enumerated) like this . . .

1. To form a more perfect Union.
2. To establish Justice.
3. To insure domestic Tranquility.
4. To provide for the common defence.
5. To promote the general Welfare.
6. To secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.
Everything that the U.S. Government is authorized to do (at its
discretion) falls under one or more of these six enumerated purposes.
These six purposes are the very essence of the "original intent" of
our Founders.

The specific requirements for things that the U.S. Government MUST do
are spelled out in the various Articles and Amendments, which follow
later, after the six purposes are announced. For details, please see
http://www.loveallpeople.org/usconstitution.html .

THE NEED FOR REGULATION OF CAPITALISM TO PREVENT ITS NATURAL ABUSES
Capitalism and Democracy are compatible, as long as the Capitalists
are regulated carefully by the Democratically-elected Government so
that the Public interest is best served.


GOVERNMENT REGULATION IS A GOOD THING, A NECESSARY THING, TO KEEP
CORPORATIONS ON A LEASH, NOT RUNNING LOOSE IN PUBLIC, UNRESTRAINED BY
ANYTHING IN THEIR PERPETUAL QUEST FOR MAXIMUM PROFITS. THIS IS WHAT
GOVERNMENT IS FOR!
Unregulated profit-seeking corporations cannot be trusted to protect
the Public, because their main objective is to make profits, not to be
a do-gooder for the Public. Whenever profit-making conflicts with the
Public interest, profit-making wins! Thus they become Predators on the
Public, not Protectors of the Public.
This is not a radical idea, but an obvious fact, if you think about
it. Profit-seeking corporations exist to make a profit, and the more
profit, the better. Anything which increases profits is good for them;
and anything which decreases profits is bad. So they try to do
whatever is necessary to make profits. This is the essence of Laissez-
faire Capitalism: that profit-seeking corporations should be left
alone to do whatever they choose to do in order to make profits.


Employees get paid to help the company make a profit, not to be a do-
gooder for the general Public. Just suppose a local manager decided to
give away $1,000,000 of the company's money to build a playground for
the neighborhood children. "The kids need the playground!," he says.
Unless this playgound were part of some co-ordinated Public Relations
effort, intended ultimately to produce greater profit, the employee
would probably be fired, and replaced by someone with a better profit-
making attitude.

Suppose an auto manufacturer had some kind of a safety problem,
perhaps gas tanks that sometimes exploded on impact. And suppose it
would cost a hundred million dollars to fix the problem, but it would
only cost ten million to let the problem continue, and pay off the
victims who sued and won. What do you suppose the company would do? It
would let the problem continue, of course! Deny that a problem exists,
claim it was the user's fault, and pay off damages only when forced to
do so. These kinds of decisions happen all the time. Why do you
suppose the corporations are so eager to get "Tort Reform?" To limit
their payoffs for damages, of course! So their profits aren't hurt so
much! "To hell with the Public," they think. "They should be more
careful!"

And if the Management of a profit-seeking corporation ever did choose
the Public interest over a higher profit (unless it were forced to do
so by some kind of government regulation), then that corporation would
be violating its financial duty to its stockholders. And the
stockholders would be entitled to replace the do-gooder Management
with a profit-oriented Management.

UNREGULATED PROFIT-SEEKING CORPORATIONS HARM THE PUBLIC THESE FIVE
WAYS

Unregulated profit-seeking corporations harm the public these five
ways. We are talking mainly about the larger, publicly-traded, profit-
seeking corporations like those whose stocks are traded on the stock
exchanges. But the same ideas can apply to any unregulated profit-
seeking corporation, even the smaller ones and the private ones.

We recognize that profit-seeking corporations can be a great force for
good in the world, creating and providing wonderful goods and services
that would be unavailable by any other means. But we also recognize
that if they are unregulated, they harm the public these five ways. An
unregulated corporation is like a loose elephant in your neighborhood.
Who can stop it from trampling over whatever it chooses?

1. NOT PAY TAXES -In order to maximize profits, they always seek to
avoid or minimize their taxes.

2. ELIMINATE COMPETION -In order to maximize profits, they always seek
to eliminate or control their competition.

3. CUT WAGES AND SALARIES - In order to maximize profits, they always
seek to reduce their labor costs.

4. DISREGARD THE ENVIRONMENT - In order to maximize profits, they
always seek to avoid all environmental restraints.

5. SELL DANGEROUS, HARMFUL PRODUCTS - In order to maximize profits,
they are tempted to sell dangerous or harmful products.


So what should we do? We need profit-seeking corporations because they
are very efficient and very innovative. They are quick to provide
products and services to fill needs, if the profit is there. They can
do great things very quickly. But they cannot be trusted to protect
the Public, if it hurts their profits to do so. And it is unreasonable
to expect that they should - unless they are somehow compelled to do
it. But we cannot allow them simply to run loose, like rampaging
elephants, trampling down whatever is in their path.

The answer is GOVERNMENT REGULATION! Yes, Government Regulation of
profit-seeking corporations. Reasonable regulations, applied fairly,
so that all the companies are in the same boat and nobody gets any
special advantage. This is not difficult to do, but it does require
some effort. And it requires going against the current right-wing
Republican policies of Laissez-faire Capitalism: that profit-seeking
corporations should be left alone to do whatever they choose to do in
order to make profits.



TIPPING THE BALANCE TOO FAR TO THE RIGHT, IN FAVOR OF THE FREE-MARKET
CAPITALISTS, AGAINST THE PUBLIC
The inherent tensions between Capitalism and Democracy are not new. We
have faced them before, about a hundred years ago, and we resolved
them then, largely under leadership of President Theodore Roosevelt.
But now they have re-emerged in new forms, under the permissive, look-
the-other-way eye of the Republican party's Anti-regulation
extremists, who have tipped the balance too far to the right, in favor
of the unrestrained free-market Capitalists.
President Theodore Roosevelt wrote these words almost a hundred years
ago, They applied then, and they still apply today.


"I hold that a corporation does ill if it seeks profit in restricting
production and then by extorting high prices from the community by
reason of the scarcity of the product; through adulterating, lyingly
advertising, or over-driving the help; or replacing men workers with
children; or by rebates; or in any illegal or improper manner driving
competitors out of its way; or seeking to achieve monopoly by illegal
or unethical treatment of its competitors, or in any shape or way
offending against the moral law either in connection with the public
or with its employees or with its rivals. Any corporation which seeks
its profit in such fashion is acting badly. It is, in fact, a
conspiracy against the public welfare which the Government should use
all its powers to suppress.

"If, on the other hand, a corporation seeks profit solely by
increasing its products through eliminating waste, improving its
processes, utilizing its by-products, installing better machines,
raising wages in the effort to secure more efficient help, introducing
the principle of coöperation and mutual benefit, dealing fairly with
labor unions, setting its face against the underpayment of women and
the employment of children; in a word, treating the public fairly and
its rivals fairly: then such a corporation is behaving well. It is an
instrumentality of civilization operating to promote abundance by
cheapening the cost of living so as to improve conditions everywhere
throughout the whole community."
Source: Autobiography of Theodore Roosevelt
Please see => http://www.lifeofgeorgewashington.org/supersearch-autobiographyoftheodoreroosevelt.html



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Blessings to you. May God help us all.
Rev. Bill McGinnis, Director - LoveAllPeople.org



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[john clements]

On Saturday, October 15, 2011 at 6:45:14 AM UTC-4, Rev. Bill McGinnis wrote:

Keywords: Democratic Capitalism Democracy Free Markets Government
Practical Regulation Social Justice Public Interest Common Interest
Total Happiness Of Mankind Democratic Capitalism Model Socio-Economic
System For America And The World  

Democratic Capitalism is not a new ideology. Its been tried unsuccessfully very many times. The problem was that it always morphed into Socialism led by a Ruling Party. That is why there is no such thing as Democratic Capitalism. Capitalism is an economic system that can only be run by a Democratic form of Government because it is a t