Capitalism in Decay
Whom the gods would destroy, they first give too much money
Whom the gods would destroy: A lesson in three acts.
1. Poverty exists because we cannot satisfy the rich.
Poverty exists not because we cannot feed the poor, but because we cannot satisfy the rich.
2. Crime is a social construct.
When we say “crime is a social construct,” what we mean is that you, as an individual, can go to jail for littering, but executives of a corporation can poison the air and water of an entire town, can profit from deaths they’re happy to cause themselves, and no one will lose so much as a year-end bonus.
3. Fascism is capitalism in decay.
Fascism is capitalism in decay, revealing its core function: maintaining the dominion of wealth through physical force. When consent can no longer be manufactured for capitalist crimes, repression takes over. Fascism is the system functioning as intended: forcing consent when consent is no longer given.
The Rich and the Rest
Ultimately, rule by the rich depends on force. In gentler societies, the rich pacify the rest by surrendering enough so that no one comes for their heads. In these societies, there is still extraction and pain, but not so much that the victim is moved to rebel.
In societies like these, the rich are unhubristic; they possess what the Greeks call sophrosyne (σωφροσύνη) — soundness and prudence of mind, which hubris is not. Such a society was the U.S. in the 1950s. Yet while sometimes tamed, the rich don’t sit still for long; desire for great wealth is a poison that dissolves their humanity and produces hubristic monsters. Thus every state of extremes sees eventual collapse.
That’s where we are now, ruled by monstrous men using both political parties to work their will. From this there are only two outcomes, centrifugally opposed: the people rebel and the rich lock down control (think the Stasi and their DDR), or the people rebel and tumbrels start coming out (think Luigi Mangione).
Friedman on steroids; Ron with a howitzer. Unless the monsters stand down, we could well see a crash. If so, we won’t be the first. Whom the gods would destroy…
Remember "Washington Week in Review" when the consensus of opinion among the seated pundits was that Alan Greenspan had eliminated the business cycle? That was the b.s. of the 90's which let Clinton get away with putting Glass-Steagall in the circular file. Reagan was not 'that' stupid. That action undertaken by Clinton was the first overt clue that the Democrats too had made the ultra-wealthy their chief constituent.
Thomas, your three bullet point list of the malign effect the wealthy exact on our society is short and sweet.
Being of an age, my grandparents spent their early adult years in the Great Depression and my parents were small children at that time. During some holiday family dinners the topic of the depression would come up, the adults at the table would look horrified and the subject would change. Man, why did I not ask for detail of that time? Those are observations we could all benefit from.
Not to suggest that the sophrosyne of US plutocrats in the 50s was voluntary or that it represented wisdom. They were disciplined by political power.