Gunnar Myrdal in his “Challenge to Affluence” states that the role of private business is “to produce, sell, and make a profit as large as possible under conditions created by government but not to create those conditions itself.” Through manipulation of Congress and the regulatory agencies the power relationships Myrdal envisaged have been reversed. In addition to rigging the economic life of the nation the business community has infected our minds with such nostrums as that there will be a technological remedy for every problem that new technology has introduced, that a rising Gross National Product and DJIA are indices of social health, that businesses allocate resources more wisely than does government and that having more stuff is the key to happiness. These ideas are proven to be false by the collapse of our bubble economy.

Capitalism may have assisted national development but is destructive of democracy and is incompatible with the needs of a nation adjusting to the fact that we are not God’s chosen consumers. Some starting points for reform are:

Bulldoze K Street. If government wants corporate expertise it will request of subpoena it.

Full public funding of political campaigns requires that diversion of corporate resources to influence public policy should be criminalized.

 Importers must prove financial ability to compensate the public for damages arising from the importation of defective products.

 Future planning should be based on the optimistic assumption that we can maintain but not exceed our current levels of production and consumption. Improvement in the quality of life must come from wiser, not greater, use of human and material resources.

Let us hear your starting points.

John E. Gibson

Blooming Prairie