Late Capitalism

 All sorts of articles declare the demise of capitalism and call the state we are in at present 'late capitalism' as if this is it's final gasp.  This could well be so but to my way of thinking it has little to do with capitalism itself.  The problem is not capitalism, communism or any other 'ism'.  The problem is the lack/demise of democracy and the uneven application of 'the rule of law'.  Whatever system you introduce, there will be an attempt by some members of your community to subvert the system to their own ends and accumulate all the 'filthy lucre' and power in their own hands.  In the extreme, the psychopaths rise to the top by trampling all in their way to get there and work hard to subvert the rule of law by the use of the wealth they have accumulated.  Look at who heads major businesses.

Look at our election systems as an example.  We allow businesses and rich individuals to finance our elections and then are amazed that the resulting government does the will of these contributors.  Stopping this nonsense would result in a better class of politicians, ones that are not primarily motivated by greed and make all the much needed reforms  that much easier.  Lets start with Communism.

  Communes could well have been a good solution to their economic woes in China and Russia but two sociopaths took over - Mao in China and Stalin in Russia.  Both led to the deaths of millions of their own citizens and both suppressed the rule of law and any influence of their people in the running of their government.

Look, also, at the various religious communes that have sprung up over the years.  They typically have a charismatic leader who seems to think that every attractive woman in the group should be his private hand maiden and the women, sensing the alpha male, go along with it.  Don't get me wrong.  There is nothing (or not much) wrong with a commune based on free love.  Hypocrisy is the problem.  The glorious leader preaches celibacy and abstinence for this flock while going full-licentiousness for himself and perhaps a couple of lieutenants.  If the whole group agreed to 'willing partner' it would greatly reduce the tension.

One last example is the Kibbutz in Israel.   This was true commune-ism.  The difference was that it was fiercely democratic with decisions taken by all the members.  Leaders of the various branches of the Kibbutz (fish ponds, dairy, factory, kitchen, horticulture, field crops) and of the whole kibbutz were changed around, typically, every three years as was the representative from the kibbutz to the central organization of that particular movement.  It worked an absolute treat but I'm sad to say the system has collapsed.  Reasons had to do with fiduciary responsibility and the desire of the  women to have a larger part in the lives of their offsprings.  Such a shame.  The system worked very well. 

And then we have America.  It is highly questionable if she ever actually had a democracy but now it is going South at a rapid rate.  We mock Russia with her oligarchy.  If you think that is bad look at the way America is going.  It is nothing that couldn't be cured by a strict following of 'one man one vote', a strict following of application of the rule of law evenly across all levels of society and the cessation of the system in which you allow corporations and rich individuals to finance elections, make politicians rich while they are in office and give them sweet jobs when they retire.  Such simple solutions but Republicans would completely loose control of their sphincters if anyone proposed such a solution.  Capitalism is not the problem but the corruption of one man one vote and the application of the rule of law.