written 16 August, 2026
published 23 August, 2026
Capitalism prioritizes the wealth of individuals, and socialism prioritizes the society of people: the two poles of the universal relationship between the self and the collective. This is expressed in nature by the day/night and summer/winter dance between our individual sun and the universe of stars. Living exclusively in daytime or nighttime is unsustainable. Similarly, economies embracing either extreme capitalism or extreme socialism are doomed to collapse. Reality requires a dynamic balance of both to endure.
As our economy deteriorates and the progressive wing of the Democratic party becomes more popular, we are seeing a sharp rise in critique of the "socialist agenda" from the Republicans and status quo Democrats threatened by change. For example, Kathleen Parker recently wrote in the Ukiah Daily Journal that socialism "just doesn't work", declaring that, "unlike socialism, capitalism embraces human nature".
While it is true that autocratic centralized economic control fails eventually, history shows unregulated capitalism fails as well. Capitalism is mythologized as small businesses, entrepreneurships, competition, risk and reward, and a rising standard of living, which is accurate in the early stages. But over time, economic consolidation becomes domination by monopolies, financialization, rent extraction, political capture, and wealth concentration, decaying into oligarchy and collapse. America experienced this in the late 1920's, and we seem to be headed there again.
Capitalism rests on two mistaken assumptions: slavish devotion to the mythical "free market", and the acceptability of unrestrained human selfishness.
Adam Smith postulated the free market as the most equitable distribution of wealth, with several essential assumptions: equal access to financing and information, and inclusion of all costs within the price of an item, none of which are true in our actual economy. Consequently, we have suicidal industries making exclusive short-term profits.
Unrestrained selfishness is contrary to our spiritual heritage, and destructive to our nation. Christ said "love one another", but in this supposedly Christian nation, we have a trillionaire declaring "empathy is the downfall of the western world", while most of the population lives paycheck to paycheck.
Our president is the most corrupt in American history, enriching himself while impoverishing the rest of the country. He guts programs for people in need while funding tax relief for the wealthiest. Climate change is burning up, or flooding out, our nation, but the president cries "hoax", funding energy systems making it worse, unable to admit he is wrong. His ego driven war on Iran, supposedly a quick "excursion", has no apparent solution, while slowly destabilizing the entire world economy. This is not sustainable.
Recognizing the natural life cycle of capitalism, and desiring to prevent corrupt, oppressive oligarchy, societies can take actions to keep capitalism from digesting itself. This takes the form of taxing capital, restricting money in political campaigns, regulating corporations, investing in essential public services, supporting robust unions, and strong anti-trust and anti-corruption laws. Such regulated capitalism is what the rest of the world calls democratic socialism: a dynamic balance between capitalism and socialism.
Months ago, Trenz Pruca posted this summary. "Capitalism is like fire, brilliant, dangerous, and transformative, so societies have three choices: let it burn out unchecked (oligarchic collapse), extinguish it (authoritarianism), or manage it (democratic socialism). The societies that flourish will be the ones that treat economics not as theology, but as gardening: tending the healthy growth, pruning the dangerous overgrowth, and remembering that unchecked systems, like unchecked fires, consume everything."
Capitalist zealots have dominated the discussion in the U.S. for decades, defining any socialist tendency as evil incarnate. But they are doomed to fail, because reality has an inclusive, socialist inclination.
Consider a fruit tree. Using free solar energy, water, and available nutrients, it produces tons of fruit over its lifetime, far beyond its own reproductive needs. This bounty, freely given, nourishes untold numbers of other species and individuals.
In our own body, tens of trillions of individual cells, all autonomous living individuals, thrive and function is relative harmony, as a classic socialist organization: to each according to its need and from each according to its abilities. Some cells work all the time, others only in emergencies, yet are all provided for, freely given energy, nutrients, communication, waste disposal, and meaningful occupation. When any part of this system fails, the whole organism is threatened. Should human society be less inclusive than each citizen?
In response to our growing institutional insanity, people are rising up, saying, STOP! ENOUGH! I believe this election will happen, despite the president's efforts. Stay tuned, and vote!
