[MD] Protestant Capitalism

[Ham Priday]

Hi Platt --

> The election of Obama is a shining example of the power of the statist
> propaganda machine. You can bet they will continue to use it to justify
> their takeover of  banks, auto companies, the health care system and
> whatever else they want. Note that the first thing they do to bamboozle
> the public to accept their grab for power is to create a phony crises, 
> e.g.,
> global warming.

Right you are, Platt.

Here's a fable you won't find on the Internet . . .


                                             THE EMPEROR'S NEW WEALTH

There came a time in this restive world when the people of the most 
prosperous nation gathered to choose a new Emperor.  The man they appointed 
had no experience running a company or managing an economy, but he was 
 "cool" and in many ways different from his capitalist predecessor.  He 
spoke eloquently and with confidence, promising that he would usher in an 
era of fairness by "spreading the wealth" so that "we can all get along 
together".  That had great appeal to the people who were looking for a 
change ? especially a change that would end the rift between rich and poor 
and make everybody equal.

Now it so happened that when the new Emperor assumed power he found the 
nation's financial institutions in disarray.  The people had been purchasing 
houses they couldn't afford and the loan companies had run up so much debt 
they had no more money to lend.  That was a challenge for the Emperor who 
had no wealth of his own but felt bound by his promises.  So he consulted 
with his advisors to determine what to do.  Among them was the Imperial 
Wizard who said: "Never let a crisis go to waste; it's an opportunity to do 
everything you promised to do.  Besides, the people won't notice if you 
remind them that it's a crisis we inherited from the previous reign."

So the Emperor took his wizard's advice.  Because he believed that only he 
and his imperial minions could fix the problem, he called for money to bail 
out the banks.  He ordered up more money to bail out the auto companies 
because they were "too big to fail."  When that didn't work he turned 
ownership of the companies over to the workers' union.  To stimulate public 
spending he gave out tax rebates to everyone in the land ? even those who 
didn't pay any taxes.  He allocated money for construction and energy 
conservation projects to put people back to work, and he even nationalized 
healthcare to fulfill his promise to the people.  In his first hundred days, 
he raised the nation's debt to four times what it had ever been before. 
(You see, no one dared tell the Emperor that you can't cure a credit crisis 
by spending money you don't have.)  But that didn't seem to matter, because 
the Emperor's heralds were also pledged to the Fairness Doctrine, and they 
proclaimed throughout the land that the new policies were Good and Wise and 
beyond repute.

After eight years under his rule the problems that had caused the credit 
crisis still persisted, but the people were no longer buying houses and 
automobiles.  Instead they were trying to grow or beg enough food to keep 
from starving.  For, although more money than ever was being printed, 
whatever was left after taxes was worthless paper.  Light, heat and power 
were unaffordable luxuries under the Emperor's energy restrictions. 
National Healthcare had forced hospitals and physicians to cut costs and 
ration treatment, and they were turning away long lines of people seeking 
medical care.  Drug companies that could not market products meeting the 
fair price guidelines went out of business, and manufacturing was reduced to 
farm implements, prefabricated housing units, and basic commodities.

Riots and pillaging were rampant everywhere, and the Imperial Security Force 
was ordered in to quell them, since only the military could now own weapons. 
Most of the employed were part of what was called The People's Fairness 
Party which even illegal immigrants were invited to join and upon which the 
rest of the empire depended.  Those who once earned wealth had most of it 
taxed to support the Party, and there was no incentive to work without 
profit.  Capitalism was no longer taught in the schools, since everybody 
knew that it was evil, and "Socialism" had been replaced by "Fairness" which 
was added to the standard curriculum of Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic.

The world's most prosperous nation had at last achieved its change to 
Fairness ? its people were now neither rich nor poor but "equally 
impoverished".  A few realized that they had been rooked by an Emperor whose 
"new wealth" was actually extorted from them.  They weren't happy, free or 
productive, but they couldn't complain because the Fairness Doctrine made it 
politically incorrect.  As for the rest of the world, the new empire had 
become just another third-world country that could get along with everybody 
else by just talking away their differences.

And that was fair, too.  For who could be resentful of a country that had no 
more than they did?

. . . but I'm considering running it in my Values Page column next week.

What do you think?  Suggestions are welcome.

Regards,
--Ham