From the vault, September 6, 2018 (revised):
In a previous essay, I declared that capitalism was the worst economic system ever devised by the minds of men. It has engendered greed and corruption on a massive scale and is diametrically opposed to democracy, i.e. the wealth of the few vs. the wealth of the many. It should be consigned to the dustbin of history where it belongs.
As a good socialist, I believe that all enterprises which serve a public good ought to be controlled by We the People via a democratically elected Congress. And before you, dear reader, roll your eyes skyward, and shake your head, and wonder if The Chas has lost all of his marbles, he is not talking about Soviet Russia or the People’s Republic of China. Ever the historian, he has been convinced that neither of those entities were ever democratic socialist but instead were “national socialist” on the order of Nazi Germany, where the government was controlled by a single political party for the benefit of the highest echelons of that party.
Karl Marx had the right of it. “To each, according to his needs; from each, according to his ability.” If you worked, you received an equal share of the wealth of the country; if you could not work, due to illness, disability, or age, you still received a monthly grant to cover your costs of living. If, however, you refused to work, because you were lazy or corrupt, you’d be “recruited” to serve in a regiment of street cleaners.
But I digress.
Following is a list of currently private enterprises which should be controlled by We the People.
- Revive the concept of a U.S. Bank under the aegis of the Department of the Treasury. The Bank will receive all revenues from taxes and fees in order to pay the government’s bills.
- Nationalize the Federal Reserve system. The 12 reserve banks will act as branches of the U.S. Bank.
- Withdraw all public money from private banks and transfer them to the U.S. Bank and its branches.
- Establish basic banking services at all U.S. Post Offices.
- Nationalize all investment banks and incorporate them into the U.S. Bank to provide lending services. Close all stock exchanges, commodity exchanges, and currency exchanges as they will become obsolete once nationalization takes effect.
- Nationalize all interstate railroads and incorporate them into the AmTrak system under the aegis of the Department of Transportation. Fees from freight-handling activities will subsidize passenger services. Ticket sales will be nominal, and seniors and the disabled will ride free.
- Create a nation-wide system of high-speed railways and light-rail trains in urban areas and incorporate them into the AmTrak system. Ticket sales will be nominal, and seniors and the disabled will ride free.
- Nationalize all interstate and foreign-bound airlines and incorporate them into an “AmAir” system under the aegis of the Department of Transportation. Fees from freight-handling activities will fund safety programs and environmentally-friendly aircraft. Ticket sales will be nominal, and seniors and the disabled will ride free.
- Revive the concept of passenger-carrying dirigibles for flights of five hundred miles or less. This action will help relieve congestion in the skies and improve air safety. Ticket sales will be nominal, and seniors and the disabled will ride free.
- Nationalize all telephone companies under the aegis of the Federal Communications Commission. Fees from use of phones will fund fiber-optic systems and wireless transmission of calls. All wooden telephone poles will be removed.
- Nationalize all gas and electric utilities under the aegis of the Department of Energy and convert them to solar/wind/hydro systems. Fees from use of utilities will fund installation and upkeep of equipment.
- Promote the concept of employee-owned and -operated businesses. Large corporations of $500,000 or more in annual revenues should be targeted in particular.
- Subject all foreign-owned U.S. real estate and businesses to eminent domain, prohibit any such future purchases, and sell the same to U.S. citizens. Subject all locally-owned U.S. real estate and businesses to eminent domain whose owners fail to pay their fair share of taxes due to inversion or tax havens. Sell the same to less predatory entities or, in the case of businesses, to their employees.
Just a thought.