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The middle and lower classes were
deeply hurt by the Great Recession.
In 2011 unemployment remains around 10 percent, many millions have
been displaced from their homes in the past two years, and middle-class debt is
increasing.
Yet since 2008 the top three percent of earners have seen major
increases in their income and net worth. The rich are getting richer even as the rest are
quickly losing ground.
In truth, this trend has been occurring since the
mid-1970s.
The Left blames the free market,
and recommends more government policy to fix the growing gap between rich and the
rest. The Right blames government policy and calls for lower taxes on the
wealthy.
Unfortunately, the Left attacks any free enterprise suggestion by
calling it unfettered capitalism and casting dispersions on the free market,
and the Right downplays free enterprise solutions by promoting capitalism and
free markets.
But the reality is that the legal
and commercial codes in the United States give special benefits to those with
money. The best investments are only available to people with a high net worth,
so of course the rich continue to get richer.
When the economy tanks and only a
few high-return investments are available, and unsophisticated lower- and
middle-class individuals are banned from investing in them, the result is the
widening gap between rich and poor.
This is capitalism. It is better
than socialism, to be sure, but it is not nearly as good as free enterprise. As
Americans we must understand the differences.
The American founding generation
detested Britain's special benefits to some citizens, like tax-free tea to
Britons while the American colonists were forced to pay the tea tax. Bostonians
dressed up like Indians and threw the tea into the harbor.
Instead of such
capitalism, the American framers wanted a free enterprise economy where everyone
was treated equally before the law.
If we really want to see a booming
American economy, a return to freedom (meaning: free enterprise) is essential.
But first the American people must understand the difference between free
enterprise and all the alternatives (such as free marketism and capitalism).
Capitalism and free enterprise are both against socialism, but they are
certainly not the same thing. And in 2011, they are not even on the same side.
A return to free enterprise is essential if we want to maintain American
prosperity in the decades ahead.
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Social Leader Daily by Oliver DeMille
