A Morality of Conscience

In essence, socialism should not be regarded as an ideal, but rather a failure.  It is a failure of those with the means to live up to their responsibilities as articulated by the Founders of this mighty Republic.  The Founders did not say that one has the right to pursue life, liberty and happiness at the expense of others.  When those with the means to do so subvert the government by using their wealth, justifying the evil of subversion by calling it “free speech” they are doing so at the expense of those who do not have the same means that they do.  Instead, they should demand, through their means, that the government do what is necessary to create an environment of justice for all rather than an environment of exploitation for themselves.  They should not exploit workers for their own gain, but rather they should enrich their workers for the gain of all.  They should not attempt to eliminate competition, but rather welcome it for the many benefits that it provides.

What then are we to do?  If capitalism is evil in its purest form and socialism is also evil by its creation of a system of mediocrity what choice do we have?  It was hoped that this new Administration would provide guidance on these issues, bringing justice to our economic system.  In this, at least so far, it has failed miserably.  It has continued to reward those with the power to influence the system.  It has rewarded failure, incompetence and greed with money, power and influence.  It has propped up the failed ideals of a credit economy while attempting to institute all of the inevitable inadequacies of mediocrity inherent in socialism. 

The choice is clear.  We can not change the system by changing the system itself, because at its heart it is not the system that is to blame, but the people behind it.  We must change the ideals of those with the means to change the system.  It is not a revolution of the People that is demanded here, it is a revolution of ideas.  If one would allow me the liberty to say so, I would say that what is needed here is a new morality.  A morality of conscience that tells us that it is not to the benefit of anyone, in the long run, if one person benefits at the expense of many others. 

To this end, I would suggest that we move towards a kind of socialistic capitalism wherein those with the means to do so recognize that it is in their best interest to better the nation as a whole rather than themselves individually.  A kind of an ideal where exploitation of workers does not need to be corrected by the formation of unions, but where there is no exploitation to begin with, because it is recognized that exploitation benefits no one in the long run.  But, it must also be a place where workers recognize that there are demands on those with the means to do so that keep them from giving the workers everything they desire.  I dream of a place where no person goes without necessary medical care, but yet where any starlet can get the plastic surgery that she wants.  I dream of a just society where no child’s school is any less excellent than any other just because of the place where they happen to live.  I dream of a place where racial injustice is not fueled by financial inequality.  But, this place of which I dream can never be until we change the current morality of greed to a morality of conscience.