Capitalism Or Communism - There Is A Third Alternative

By James Donahue

There is an unsigned piece on my desk . . . I think it might have been send in an e-mail . . . that presents some interesting thoughts about a growing world interest in socialism. I thought I would pass it on:

"Capitalism lives at the expense of the poor," this writer said. "Communism is the natural outgrowth of unrestricted capitalism. Communism doesn't work. Unrestricted capitalism neglects the needs of its people.

"Perhaps what is truly needed is the welding together of populist philosophy, the socialist agenda and the armed forces led by a strong government guided by the principles of this populist philosophy and ever thoughtful of the socialist agenda."

At first glance, the writer's suggestion of a strong-armed government imposing a socialist agenda appears to smack of Communism. So why do we need armed police to force compliance?

The article offers the following reasons:

--Our current civilization is extremely primitive.

--The belief systems of most groups are counter-intuitive to the social evolution of civilization.

--Governments, philosophies and religions all vie to control civilization.

--A strong government is not necessarily bad if it is guided by a ubiquitous populist philosophy and holds the welfare of its people in high esteem."

We might agree with the above statements, although we must question any guarantees that this government might ever be guided by a philosophy other than that of power by control. The men who framed the United States Constitution attempted to form "a more perfect union" that created a nation in which "all men were created equal." Yet after only 200 years, the Constitution has been craftily dismantled and trashed in the interest of public safety against the threats of terrorism and drugs. And it is clear that in America, not all men are equal.

Thus we seem to be our own worst enemy. I once heard a wise man say that the only way to preserve our Constitutional freedoms was to prevent people on welfare from voting. We carry that thought even farther. Democracy under capitalism encourages a deterioration of mental and spiritual growth and eventually rots the nation from within. We do not believe the concept of a republic was ever safe from the hoodlums willing to carve away its structure.

The writer of the article goes on with that list of explanations:

--Most people are too simple minded to realize that they are the reason for much of the evils in this world.

--People need to grow up and do what is best in the interest of (all.)

--Humans need social interaction and a nature that is greater than themselves. The need for religion could be adequately substituted by putting pre-eminence on the populist philosophy.

We find disagreement here. Not all people are incapable of understanding the root of our problems, but sometimes they need to be reminded of alternatives to capitalism and our need to pursue spiritual truth. The writer's suggestion that self emulating will make us all feel better about ourselves and thus be better achievers and refrain from drugs and other forms of self-abuse is off the mark. The pursuit of the god within, however, is the correct path. And it needs to be a path carefully woven into the fabric of the socialist system to make that system work for the best interests of all.

The final two arguments are:

--Humans are restricted by their own biological diseases. But with genetic science we now stand at the beginning of perfecting the human form. (The misunderstandings of those who oppose genetic research unwittingly contribute to the misery of fellow humans.)

--By welding the people together (under socialism) we can effectively free and re-direct them with one guiding force that will work to perfect our world and reach out to the stars.

Entire books can be written on these two subjects alone. But from a broad perspective, we agree.