I've been binge watching documentaries due to a shoulder injury that has left me a bit sedentary for a number of weeks. My viewing taste varies but inevitable I find myself watching topics on what drives our societies. From the earliest records, the present and into the future, the driving force behind our evolving social strata is human nature. Currently residing in the United States, places me in a time of extremes. Our current governmental structure seems, at best, corrupted with factions on the Left and Right crafting legislation and orchestrating crimes to further their respective agenda. Who, the Left or the Right, has the answers?
On the Right, we have people whom believe that man can create, progress and thrive in unchecked capitalism. While this is true to an extent, unchecked capitalism can and does infringe on the liberties of others. Whether it be pollution, depleting resources or taking advantage of labor, capitalism needs some oversight. I do believe that we could easily accomplish this with stronger whistle-blower laws. Billion dollar fines from a government that will not use those monies to improve a situation is not the answer. Instead some well-meaning politician will spend those monies on a feel good project. One that big government sees fit to oversee, which uses 3/4 of those monies just to administer. Which brings me to another ideal of the Right, smaller, less intrusive government. This is an ideal that I think we all could get behind. When has the government done anything that has not had terrible unintended consequences? Also, bailouts for businesses should not be the job of the government. The Right regards this as both bad and good with no solid stance. It all depends on who happens to be benefiting from it.
On the Left, we have a pretty simple social ideal. People on the left want equality. Across the board equality. This is an fools folly. Why you ask? Simple, Human Nature. This quality we all have prevents us, both Liberal and Conservative from creating a perfect utopian society. We have crafted a system of government that tries to give all people a chance at the gold ring, but equality..socially, economically and judiciously will always be stratified. It sounds wonderful but it's unattainable.
Quick example: If we suddenly adopted a utopian, socially equal society, without a monetary base there would have to be some sort of system that equally distributed the resources. This system would have to be overseen by some sort of elected or appointed officials. Now, the way that this system would work would be to give resources to those who need it, but who would determine need? What happens when a resource becomes scarce? Who would be those that would work to make and provide these resources and would they be compensated at a higher rate than those that don't contribute to the work load?
You see, in a system such as this, Human Nature and Self Preservation kicks in. If resources get scarce, people start to horde them, taking more than their 'fair share'. People at the top will take the most resources believing that they are in a higher position and are deserving of more. People that work to provide the resources give up working because they get the same as those that do nothing. Society comes crashing down upon itself. We do not adhere to a hive mentality so therefore shall never be able to build a utopian society until we can quell free will and that will never happen.
So who is correct? Which ever side of the aisle you place yourself on, I don't believe either side is correct. A balanced approach is the only one that will stand the test of time. Our founding fathers knew this and addressed these issues in our founding documents. Maybe y'all ought to read them before placing yourself on the Right or the Left.
That's my two cents, spend 'em or put 'em in the dish for the next person.
