I get that the Constitution is four pieces of paper. But it is a codification of an ethos that sets us apart from every other culture. An ethos that is all but erased from the civic foundations of the generation set to inherit our countries future.
But it's not. That's just myth making.
This "ethos" you speak of was the American culture BEFORE the Constitution, no because of it.
Not to be rude, but you aren't schooling me, I am well aware of George Mason and Patrick Henry et al and their contributions to our "Bill of Rights" or LIMITS OF FEDERAL POWER... which is the more important issue.
There are no limits to federal power. It's in your head that there are. I think the last 250 years in America have proven that is the case. The ink was still drying on the Constitution when the Alien and Sedition Act was passed.
Read some revisionist history. America isn't what you think it is.
What America has been is the most fantastic public relations operation in the history of the world.
I think that many wealthy people have done great things. I'm extremely glad that there are the Gates' of the world that do incredible amounts for others. I also know there are a lot of greedy rich that sit on their arses with a huge number in their bank account and they don't give a cent. Many of them inherited.
Money in the bank is used to provide loans for mortgages and business investment.
There is nothing wrong with inheriting. It's how the next generation can live better than the last one.
In my opinion I think someone, somewhere has to come up with a way that gives people tax breaks if they add a positive aspect to the economy.
When you trade, you are doing something positive.
If I sell you something, I want the cash more than the good, and you want the good more than the cash. We're both better off after having made a trade.
Thus, all people who trade are by definition, increasing value in society.
It's ridiculous we tax people who add value, and then claim that we need to tax them more.
But generally, people don't understand even the most basic economic concepts.
I believe everyone has to contribute towards the world positively, whether it is through direct means or if they are too greedy then through governmental means (Not socialist but also not fully liberal. A mixture). It's up to some forward thinking government somewhere to give it a shot. We all know the current system isn't working.
All government is socialist. It has to be in order to be a government. You can think that mixing a little markets with socialism creates some acceptable hybrid, but the underlying principles are still socialism.
Greed is good. We're all motivated by self-interest. When I care for my parents, I do it out of self-interest. There is nothing wrong with greed.
What's wrong is that people don't understand economics, and then they expect miracles from government, the very agency that disrupts positive and peaceful society. Government creates nothing. It only redistributes from winners to losers. Even when they bail out corporations, they take money from winners (the producers in society) and reward losers (the failing banks etc).
I don't have much hope humanity will figure this out in my lifetime, and that's a damn shame, because we could be so much wealthier if we stopped throwing our money away on bad ideologies.
