Most people are marginal participants in the American economy, while a relatively miniscule number of individuals reap spectacular benefits from it.
Because mass participation is critical to sustained economic growth, many Western democracies, such as the United States, suffer from suboptimal economic performance.
This dysfunction can be partially summed up by the age-old axiom, “The rich get richer while the poor get poorer.” But, more accurately, it’s the obscenely rich who get more obscenely rich under this arrangement, while the great masses who labor for wages stagnate, with little or no opportunity for advancement.
In spite of all this, many non-participants in the American dream remain averse to any and all measures designed to combat income inequality. To them, unfettered capitalism, as well as the Constitution, are immutably etched in stone. These institutions have achieved almost divine status in their minds.
In what amounts to “theocratic capitalism,” retribution surely awaits those who fail to cherish and cultivate the gifts that God has given them.
Wouldn’t it be great if they felt the same way about climate change?
Thomas R. Smith, Salt Lake City