Capitalism in America, Part 4

Dear Friends,

The question for this post is should the United States base its economic system on capitalism as the best way to advance the economic interests and provide better living conditions for all in a sustainable manner and is such an economic system the best one to strive for the goal of true equality of opportunity for all.

The logical conclusion of my three prior posts on Capitalism in America is that if we are to approach true equality of opportunity, it is the society primarily through its government which must provide the  love and inclusion; food, shelter and clothing; healthcare; education; and security that are critical to equal opportunity.  In that case what is the role of capitalism? What are the cases in which an enterprise whose mission is to make money, will do a better job of providing goods or services than a government agency whose mission is to provide goods or services in an efficient and fair manner?

In the case of security, I have no doubt that it should be provided to the society by various levels of government.  The goal of any society should be to constantly reduce the need for security, reduce crime, reduce emergencies like fires and reduce worldwide tensions that lead to conflicts and war.  If a for profit enterprise were in charge of security, its profits would increase as the need for the services increased.  There would be no incentive to reduce the need for those services or to work with other parts of the society to do so.  So the police, fire and military should all be government agencies.  Those agencies should not be permitted to outsource their jobs to for profit contractors for all the same reasons.

The same logic applies to the suppliers of job specific goods for security.  For example, a for profit manufacturer of guns, ammunition, tanks, warplanes, etc. has an incentive to make money by selling more of these goods to the government which is in direct competition with the goal of the society.  The government should make all of this type of good.

The goal of public education is to ensure that all members of the society have the education necessary to have equal opportunity.  For profit schools have the goal of making money.  I would not ban for profit schools or private not for profit schools, but I believe the government must provide free public education to all from infancy through university.  This public education must be of the highest quality and provide all the education to ensure equality of opportunity. It must also be paid for by all the members of the society not just those who benefit directly.  If the billionaire class can have their children educated in schools that are better and/or offer more options than the public schools, there will never be true equality of opportunity.  That is not to say that all schools must offer all courses or activities, but it does say that within a community all students must have true access to all the courses and activities.

Healthcare is very much like education.  All people are entitled to high quality healthcare.  All people must have equal access to the best physicians and medical facilities regardless of their ability to pay.  The goal of the society is to provide high quality healthcare to all and to reduce the need for healthcare.  For profit healthcare providers make more money the more people they see and the more procedures they do.  Neither the healthcare providers nor the insurance companies have any long term interest in reducing an individual's need for healthcare services but the society has exactly that interest.  That is not to say that there could not be for profit doctors and hospitals.  Private hospitals and clinics could offer services beyond those needed for the healthcare.  For example if a private room were not necessary to provide the same level of care, a person with the money could pay for a private room.  But a healthcare system where people with money get a higher quality of care than those with less money will never provide equal opportunity for all.

In the area of food, shelter and clothing, there is more room for capitalism to play a role.  The society's goal is to be sure that all people have the food, shelter and clothing appropriate to have true equal opportunity in life.  In a society where the government provides the security, education and healthcare sufficient to provide everybody with true equal opportunity, if the government also provides a minimum annual income to all to cover the cost of the appropriate food, clothing and shelter as well as a reasonable amount for other costs of living, a well regulated capitalist system would work well to provide these items.

One very clear exception to this approach is the provision of the goods and services that can be provided more efficiently through a monopoly or an oligopoly.  Municipal water, electricity, gas, etc. are prime examples. Those items should be provided by and run by various levels of government to provide these services to all on an equal and fair basis.  The internet is a complex issue in this regard. The government should not determine the content but neither should the biggest content providers be able to make access to some content more expensive than other content.  Internet access for all should be a goal of society as should equal access to the internet by all content providers.  If the government supplies the internet access to all, it can insure that all content providers have equal access without censoring access by some.

Capitalism as practiced in the United States has made the goal of love and inclusion for all more difficult not easier.  The extreme disparity in wealth and income has created huge divisions and those with power/money have used those divisions to secure for themselves more power/money.  Capitalism must be regulated to provide for true equality of opportunity.  That is not to say that everybody must have or make the same amount of money.  If a person can make more money than somebody else because he works harder or has an aptitude that demands higher pay, that is a fine result.  On the other hand if a person makes more money than somebody else because he got the money from his parents or had more opportunity than others, that is a result we should be trying to avoid.

So I have concluded that the best approach to achieving true equality of opportunity is to reform not through out our current economic system.  As a result, my next few posts on this subject will discuss the constitutional and legislative changes needed.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Villefranche-sur-mer Winter 2018 - 3

Dear Friends,

Today was a perfect day here in Villefranche - sunny skies and 60 degrees.  After spending the morning doing laundry which we of course hung outside to dry and studying our vocabulary, we decided we would walk to Beaulieu for lunch.  It is a little more than 1.5 miles east from our apartment mainly along the sea.  On the way there you walk past the gates to the Villa Nellcote.  Very seldom are the gates open so I was quick to take a peak as they were closing when we walked by.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Villa Nellcote, it is the villa where the Rolling Stones recorded their album, "Exile on Main St." in 1972.  They were eventually kicked out of town because of the drugs and negative influence on the youth of the area. 

We had lunch a the Gran Caffe in Beaulieu.  It is one of our favorites even though it is Italian.  We knew we were in France when a woman came in after us and took the next table.  She put her jacket down and then her dog on one chair and she took the other.  She was nice enough to ask if we minded, and we, of course, said no.  I did feel like the dog was my dinner companion.

In any case, the presence of the dog led to a conversation in French with the woman which was later joined by the French couple sitting on the other side.  By the way my lasagne bolognaise was great and was followed by the best chocolat chaud on the Côte d'Azur.  I have written about my search for the best before.  While I continue to search, I have yet to find any better.

While it was a beautiful day for us in Villefranche, the same cannot be said for several boat owners.  The wind began to pick up in the morning and by the time we were walking to Beaulieu for lunch the surf had too.

The picture does not do the surf justice.  On the walk to Beaulieu we noticed a dingy that had dragged anchor and was about to crash on the rocks as well as larger sailboat that had dragged but looked like the anchor may have reset.  Unfortunately, the wind and surf continued to increase during lunch and on our return, the sailboat had dragged onto the beach.

If they can get it off the beach before the seas increase again, it will be salvageable.  Unfortunately, the forecast calls for big winds again tomorrow.  These winds are basically out of the south, think Africa.  There was also a new boat that had dragged and was in the process of being smashed on the rocks.

This picture looks like the seas are calm but it is just between breakers that come in and bounce the boat off the rocks.  It was riveting to watch and each time we would turn to go we would hear another loud bang as it hit again.  If it can stay together a little longer and the winds subside, it could be rescued tonight but who knows.  The owner was nowhere in sight, just the police making sure that nobody did anything stupid like get between the boat and the rocks.

The sun is now setting and the wind has died a little with it, but the surf continues to crash.

And so ends another wonderful day in paradise.

Thanks for reading and please comment, 

The Unabashed Liberal

Villefranche-sur-mer Winter 2018 - 2

Dear Friends,

It is raining again today.  I have to say the weather so far this year has been windy, rainy and dreary.  When added to Jane's illness and my bad cold, it has been rather depressing.

Last Saturday, we were planning on playing pétanque even though we were not feeling all that well because it would be a fun outing.  Needless to say it rained Saturday morning and even though it cleared a little later in the morning, we could not play pétanque.  We went shopping and even the Saturday market was small and rather unexciting.  We did, however, splurge and buy six beautiful big red strawberries.  They were not like the big strawberries we get in the supermarkets in the United States.  These were all red and tasted really good.  They were a day brightener.

As we were walking home, three friends who are attending the Institut for two weeks arrived by taxi from the airport.  It was great to see them.  We left them to unpack and sleep because we were meeting them for dinner at Le Serre.  At least the sun was shining when they arrived.  Jane and I went to dinner with them and one other person that night.  There were 5 women and me.  So that was another day brightener.  We ran into our landlady at Le Serre, and she said that Hotel Welcome was having a jazz trio that night.  Much to my surprise all five women wanted to go even those who had just arrived from the United States.

The Hotel Welcome is the most famous hotel in Villefranche.  It has been on the water forever and many famous writers, artists and others have stayed there.  So at the end of dinner at Le Serre, we skipped their limoncello which is delicious and costs about 4 euros so we could go to the Hotel Welcome and have limoncello for 10 euros.  Of course the limoncello came in a fancier glass with ice cubes in a silver bowl and a slice of lemon and the music as well.  The music was good and not so loud that we could not talk.  The limoncello, however, was nowhere near as good.  At about 9:30 the recent travellers all faded so we left.  The evening was a nice respite from the dreary weather.

Sunday, we were going to go on an outing with the new arrivals and agreed to start around 11.  The weather was threatening rain, and the wind was blowing hard.  We decided to go to Beaulieu, pick up some things at the Super U (think small super Target) and have lunch at the Gran Caffe.  We also decided to take the bus rather than walk which is what Jane and I usually do.  The group did not move quickly or with any sense of urgency which was too bad because we missed two buses and had to wait 20 minutes for the next one.  That was actually lucky because later in the day the wait could have been closer to an hour.

We got off the bus in Beaulieu at a fancy market so had to wander through it for awhile.  We then headed off for the Gran Caffe.  We walked past the Super U where several of the new arrivals wanted to get some supplies but decided it would be better to get them after lunch and walking around.  When we arrived at the Gran Caffe, it was closed for some reason.  In all the times we have gone there for lunch, it has never been closed.  Oh well on to a different restaurant.  We found one that was fancier than we were looking for but decided it was our best chance.  Even by French standards the server showed no urgency.  It turned out the food was quite good and since the weather was bad why not spend a couple of hours eating and talking.

After lunch we returned to the Super U only to discover that it is closed on Sunday afternoons.  We could have read the sign first time we were there, but live and learn.  It is right next to the train station so we decided to take the train home.  First we had to figure out which side of the tracks we needed to be on to go to Villefranche and not Monaco.  The train system in France was initially designed by an Englishman so the trains run on the tracks the way the British drive.

We were proud of ourselves that we found the tunnel to the other side of the tracks before a train arrived, only to discover that there was not distributor of tickets on that side.  The small stations do not have ticket offices with people, just machines.  So we returned to the other side.  Fortunately I had tried to use the machine before because it is not completely intuitive.  I got to the end and put in my American Express card which of course was not accepted by the machine, only Visa.  So I had to start over with five women looking over my shoulder and making helpful suggestions.  To give my kibitzers more confidence, I switched the language to English.  Unfortunately when it came time to type in our destination, the english keyboard didn't work so I had to start over.  This time I did it in French and used my Visa card, and it worked.  I led the group back through the tunnel to the other side and the train arrived as we were walking onto the platform.  The preparation for the trip took 10 or 15 minutes but the trip only took about 2 minutes.

Yesterday and today I was able to get the shopping done between periods of rain.  Unfortunately we are about to return to the doctor since while feeling a little better, Jane is still not well, and it is raining.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal