NOTE: I wrote this before the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent economic hardships, updating it in the middle of April, 2020, as we’re about to embark upon more economic upheaval. Most of what I’d written still rings true, but the world has changed, and as long as our Government stands up for basic Human Rights, putting lives over treasury, we’ll be ok.
Our faith in the American system of government is easily high-jacked, for technology has advanced so far as to make lies look like fact, but investigations usually lead to lawsuits, even prosecutions and punishment. Democracy, like Communism and Socialism, looks great on paper, but in practice it fails due to the greedy Nature of Mankind. People in power often have tendencies to get what they want by any means possible, even fraudulent ones.
But we’re not lost — we’re Americans, like the ones who spoke out against the injustices of a British tyrant and fought for our right to create our own government. If we’re to maintain our standard of “by the people and for the people” we must make changes from within the system itself, if not by Executive Order (The Media helped us become familiar with them.) then by the Supreme Court or laws passed in Congress, making it crucial for us to elect trustworthy representation.
BE the voice of the people, each of us as to our own Gifts and abilities, not in violence proved tragic in the 60’s but by raising conscious awareness of G-D’s Love within our hearts through various media, or even as Martin Luther King did using Mahatma (Great Soul) Gandhi’s peaceful protests. The blessings of modern technology were karmic-created for this time.
The Power of the People lies is changing what’s “wrong” (a matter of perception) and developing programs that benefit those in need, with solutions reached in negotiation and compromise. Congressional studies are a good place to start, but the Executive Branch could strengthen our institutions by appointing scientists, not just business moguls, for Cabinet positions, commensurate with one’s field of expertise.
First and foremost, our tax system is highly flawed, for no one making under $30,000 a year should have to pay any income tax, and many corporate loopholes should be eliminated. Some have suggested that instating a federal consumption tax would solve all our problems, but again, we should study the feasibility of certain systems of taxation to decide if they would work in America, especially making sure smaller businesses are sufficiently protected.
Before our 2020 crash, our Economy wasn’t as good as we were being told, because too many Americans were forced to work two or three part-time jobs just to pay their “cost of living” expenses, and few jobs paid more than $15 a hour. Of course, part-time employees don’t have benefits or much job security, and it’s unknown if any of these are receiving an income now other than from our government stimulus program.
The Unemployment Rate has nothing to do with the number of people who’re unemployed, but is calculated by the number of people who are eligible to receive Unemployment compensation. Unless laws were previously changed or relaxed due to the pandemic, to collect Unemployment one must work a full-time job for at least six months, and even then there are reasons for refusal.
I’ve always believed that the Federal Government should be as a generous, wealthy parent, providing for the needs of the states and allowing them budget and program control. Oversight is of primary concern, and those who misuse the system should be called to account — misdeeds revealed and atonement agreed upon. Selfish people will always seek to disrupt and corrupt, but honesty and transparency are requirements of good government.
Capitalism is indeed here to stay — it’s the basis of Free Enterprise — but too many large corporations haven’t taken care of their employees. In the past it took the influence of Labor Unions to force higher wages, better healthcare, market share purchase incentives, and profit sharing. Some companies (i.e. Delta Airlines) shared their profits with employees in 2019, but they may be regretting it now.
It doesn’t seem fair that one corporation can own many companies, even when they’re unrelated to avoid monopoly violations. Now is the time to facilitate smaller businesses to thrive, with laws considered in Congress made to benefit them, not large corporations. Most Americans believe that CEO’s and Boards of Directors are useless figureheads whose bloated salaries cut into possible wages of the workers.
It bothers me that we’re too worried about labels — Socialism, Communism (Did you know the first Christians were Communists, with G-D going so far as to execute the “cheaters” among them? Acts 4:32-5:11) — but we’ve seen these practices fail in too many nations, usually due to the rise of Autocrats. Socialism is a fear-inducing word in America today, even though Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are Socialist functions, but Scandinavian and some other European countries are showing the world what works and what doesn’t.
The stimulus money that was just paid out is suspect Communistic, but many people support “guaranteed income for everyone” as something Congress may consider. There must be a “happy medium” within these various ideologies, for we’re each conservative in some ways and liberal in others, and we can value what’s “tried and true.” Labels don’t really mean much, for definitions change from year to year (when gay meant happy and bad didn’t mean good), but labels are everything in our Media-fueled world today.
Of the Top 16 “most developed” nations, America is at the bottom in ratings involving disparity between the rich and poor, the poverty of children, and the poverty of the elderly. In 2012, we were #7 in literacy, but 49th in the world in life expectancy and 178th in infant mortality. While the top 1% of income earners garnered 80% of USA wealth in the last thirty years, is this where we want to be in the next thirty?
I, too, have a dream that we can talk to one other about the things we believe in without getting angry, respecting another’s “wrong” opinion with Brotherly Love and finding some compromise. These are main reasons why Messiah Yeshua came to Earth to live among us: to give us faith in G-D’s Will that Goodness will prevail; to instruct us to love one another as we love ourselves and our families, accepting everyone we encounter as a beloved brother or sister, not judging anyone, agreeing that we are more alike than different; showing us ways to serve our fellow Human Beings in Unity so that we can strengthen the economic well-being of all Americans.