The Witness Chronicles, 11/29/24
How about a third party that isn’t lame?
Liberal Capitalism, a Proposal For a New Party
It’s an old joke of mine but the response is, that’s me
For years if asked what I am I said jokingly, I’m a liberal capitalist, or Lib Cap. Intended as a joke, the universal response was, surprisingly, that people liked that concept. In other words, rather than laughing they took it semi-seriously.
I’m starting to think more seriously what that phrase might mean. Liberal capitalist. Let’s look at it literally. Liberal implies a belief that government serves a role to help level the playing field for those struggling with the divisions between the haves and have nots. Capitalist implies a fervent belief in the capitalist economic system that enables anyone, in theory, to succeed in a fair system.
In my mind these days, those two goals are not exclusive to each. We can have a government that strives to help those who want to move up while shoring up businesses with a fair playing field that provides a path to both job growth and prosperity.
Its not a message we are seeing from either political party as they stand today. Excessive progressiveness mistrusts capitalism and pushes the socialist idea of a classless society. And classic capitalism has been too willing to look aside as businesspeople ignored civic duty in the name of building wealth. But as a system, it has been spectacularly successful.
The problem is there is an ideological war between a benevolent government and unrestricted selfish greed, a war which has led us to where we are. It is the American way to aspire to success, but that has become out of control. The proposed Trump Cabinet’s heavy emphasis on billionaires is the extreme example of capitalism losing track of its basis and being entirely focused on greed and acquisition.
Liberalism is equally guilty of extremism, implying the world and the issues we face are black and white and there is nothing black and white about reality. Both sides have long ago lost touch with reality in my view. It is entirely possible for the two to meet by leaving behind a few self interests.
That would be the essence of liberal capitalism. We would not vilify the desire for success, but we would recognize the need for those who succeed to help others have a path to the same success through things like government support for education, entrepreneurship, childcare, and regulations that don’t require navigating a convoluted bureaucracy.
Something in the middle, in other words. Which is something sorely missing in our society. A capitalist society does not have to profit at the cost of others. Prosperity is the tide that raises all boats, if the system is balanced. Liberal capitalism would aspire to that balance.
More limited regulation with a safety net designed not for reliance, but as a path to a better life. Help business while building a society prosperous enough to consume more and grow.
Idealistic? Remember this thinking grew as a joke, and right now it seems like one that is not very funny. But there has to be a pragmatic response to the extreme power grab we are witnessing now, a cynical power grab driven by unguarded greed at every level.
The Democratic Party as we know is a boneless corpse despite the very real successes of the Biden administration, successes the Trump administration will co-opt and claim for their own. That’s politics. But it is veering closely to authoritarianism, by intent. What we have been doing is not enough. We need a radical rethinking but not classic radicalism, which can always be condemned as extreme.
Marrying a benevolent government with a belief that our capitalist system is working when it’s is not running out of control based on self-interest, could be a winning strategy. A new middle.
Yes, I’m an idealist and you will hear more of that as this political world evolves. But we need new ideas and maybe a concept that started as a joke might make sense. It’s a crazy world and it got multiples of crazier in recent weeks. Sometimes crazy means breaking everything and rethinking our idea of how things are supposed to be.
Trump did that in 2016. And the Democratic response was more of the same old. That did not work out so well.
Maybe I’m a Liberal Capitalist rather than an old school Democrat. I could live with that.
The need to support writing that witnesses is more important than ever. Please consider supporting my writing with a small donation through Buy Me A Coffee, a site for supporting creators, or by upgrading to the paid subscription option. I realize not all readers can afford to help out and that my writing needs to earn your support, so all my content is available to all subscribers. Thank you, ME
Welcome to the club. Just after this past election, an electrician I've known for 40 years came by at my request to help solve a wiring problem. As we worked together on it, he asked if I was pleased with the election outcome. I said I was not and he replied "I thought, as a businessman, you'd be a trump supporter." I explained that character matters more than policy and that business seeks constancy (almost regardless of the specific rules), and not the chaos that trump always brings. That ended that part of the conversation, though we continued working for three hours. I did not pursue his opinion of the outcome, but I think I planted a different perspective in his mind.
Lib Caps it is . Just don't make me wear a ball cap to show it.
I'm going to have to disagree with your view that: "Both sides have long ago lost touch with reality". I would say that the exact opposite is true: both sides are staring in the face of the cold, hard reality - that money is the only route to getting elected. The problem is: getting elected is no longer the route to democracy. What do I mean by that?
A true democracy would have politicians delivering policies that the electorate voted for. But that no longer happens. The wealthy now get to decide. The Democrats are as much in the pocket of the rich as Republicans. The blindingly obvious policy that you would expect from the liberal/left - tax the rich - never happens. Because they are in hock to them.
The rich are now the real people in power - and until money is taken out of politics, that isn't going to change.