ENVISIONING A NEW ECONOMY:

     Michael Bloomberg spent around one billion dollars in his attempt to become the Democratic nominee in 2020. He could have used that money more effectively by mailing every family a one million dollar  check. There have been many issues where Bloomberg has used his fortune to benefit leftwing interests, gun control is notable. Still his quixotic quest to capture the Democratic nomination was not destined for success. That Billion dollars went to well-heeled campaign strategists, lobbyists, and media outlets. Unlike Republicans, bribery and vote buying is not as successful in the Democratic party. Yes the DNC has their hand out but many Democrats are wary of anything the DNC offers. Many of us felt that Bloomberg was yet another vision of the corporate politician we dislike. And then came Covid 19. The entire landscape has changed. Petroleum companies are paying money to rid themselves of surplus oil, many of the local businesses have been forced to shutter their doors, we are now faced with the need to wear masks in public and keep six feet apart in those places, and Fortune 500 companies are trying to push aside mainstreet businesses for the public assistance funds being allocated ( currently about $2 trillion and more is needed). Surprisingly, the Democratic leadership in both houses have kept some of the most egregious acts of corporate influence buying from coming to fruition. Our economy has been brought to its knees and we are witnessing public subsidies equaling levels undreamed of by LBJ in his "War on Poverty", perhaps even to Keynesian levels. We can not know if we will successfully rise out of this collapse of all we have come to expect since we emerged from the Great Depression. This is not hyperbole, capitalism has failed us, a part of the two-party system has failed us, one party in particular. How we rebuild is actually being investigated in novel ways.

     Here are some observations.

1) While government may be cumbersome, those government workers are more likely to seek a positive result, for a far broader spectrum of society, than businesses. Ronald Reagan not withstanding. 

2) Local businesses, and local government are where innovation happens. Kept free from Free-market economics and religious zealotry, those mostly blue states will be the engine of the new economy. It is important that we patronize your local businesses, and thank them for their existence. Amazon has done nothing to help its employees or the states where its regional hubs reside, many who pungled up generous public subsidies. Nor have we seen help from other Forune 500 companies. Some of them are actually giving bonuses to executives as they furlough employees. Local government in blue states, and even the occasional red state, are successfully combating Corona virus, even as they must bid against each other and the ineptly prepared federal government. 

3) It makes a powerful difference which party controls state and federal government. Those of us on the left have often expressed our deep disappointment with Democrats in leadership positions. But nearly all of us would agree that the Republican party is not just disappointing, but actually hostile to those of us not in the corporate boardrooms. And the other segment of the party, the aptly named, "basket of deplorables", is hostile to anything not born of the master race, the race where it is not acceptable to think for themselves and many who are incapable of independent thought.

4) Your dollars are better used by brick-and-mortar locally-owned stores and restaurants. The money spent there stays local, in wages, taxes, owner compensation, and other ways where dollars are spent. 

Additionally, the people employed there are interested in helping you, the customer, in the myriad ways where expertise comes in to play. We have forgotten the importance of expertise and competance in the Trump era. We had seen competance and expertise in the previous 8 years, which followed 8 years of incompetence, and yet some believe that those 8 years of flawed but earnest leadership, that managed to find a way, was a nest of vile, even criminal activity. This, as the Trump administration pushes us inexorably toward a kleptocratic dictatorship.

5) CEOs who make tens of millions of dollars in compensation have no real value when compared to the need for production, and producers. Production capacity in 3rd-world business plantations is incapable of keeping up with the drastic changes presented them. Would it not be better to manufacture widgets and things locally or regionally, somewhere that doesn't need to make an ocean voyage. If necessary to retool, it's easier to make the change without flying 9000 miles each way. And a business owner is more likely to care about the worker than a corporate executive.

6) Nine out of ten of the recessions we have faced have been during Republican controlled governments. They have been insisting that Austrian Free-market economics will raise us to new economic heights since Herbert Hoover was elected. Each time these policies have ended in a "market correction". That's shorthand for collapse. If you elect a Republican for any public office you may be sure that these lessons have not been learned.

7) Those who profess their adherence to the teachings of Jesus, most loudly and persistently, are unlikely to follow them in their own lives. Better to follow the quiet ones.

8) People who proclaim their christian faith while espousing Libertarian policies are out of touch with reality. Ayn Rand proclaimed the end of altruism, any teacher, especially a religious teacher, is the very model of altruism. We should not mistake Christian Charlatans with mansions and corporate jets, as teachers. Teachers come from a humbler background.

9) It is a sad reality that Nationalism and its fascist roots are strong in this country. They cannot be reasoned with. While we can not ban them, we can make their adherence a burden. Humor seems to work well. Perhaps because these people are thin-skinned, or perhaps they do not understand humor and its various guises.

10) We could go in one of two ways when this crisis is over. We could continue on with our belligerent and authoritarian government, or we could follow in the footsteps of Northern European Social-Democracies, with a more humanitarian public sector. The very lessons FDR established to bring us out of the Great Depression. The first way has never succeeded for long, the second way has been pretty successful in spite of conservative claims to the contrary.

     Imagine that that billion dollars that Bloomberg wasted was paid out to families where such a sum was never imaginable. Some, as conservatives claim, might change from Budweiser to Dom Perignon and single-malt Scots whiskey. But Donald Trump inherited untold millions from his family, and became president. The Koch Brothers inherited a vast fortune and grew up to own presidents. Vladimir Putin and his inner circle have stolen billions of dollars from Russia and own the American presidency. Might we expect better from someone of a more humble family? Others would build a more comfortable house, and maybe start a business. Some of those would succeed. Some might use the free time to create art or music, or author a book, or film the movie they have always wanted. From these efforts a new feeling of hope would spring from those who may have had a more somber outlook. These people will create a new economy and a new society where democracy can thrive. It will take generations for the offspring of those families to become as greedy as the corporate leaders we have  birthed in the last century. That money, free'ed from sequestration, will create new and dynamic opportunities for a broader sector of society. The 1% might be expanded to the 60%, and those not in the sixty percent would still be healthier in every way. We might find the humanity we have longed for. As a president has said, "what have we got to lose?"