As usual, society’s problems come down to money
By Letter to the Editor on June 25, 2020.
More police, less police, more social workers, less social workers. Neither approach will work because neither address the reason either need to exist.
As usual, this is about money. The politicians will immediately begin trying to cut from the budget in any scenario. Police states don’t last and are undesirable. And armies of social workers will be underfunded. And neither situation addresses the social stratification, abhorrent behaviour, and poor values that the monetary socioeconomic system brings to the table which causes the need for the police and the social workers.
The only solution I see is to eliminate the monetary system and base society on the scientific method. Think about it.
Steve Bottrell
Lethbridge
7-6
An argument without foundation and a conclusion without substance.
What scientific method do you propose which instills good values, eliminates class structure and ensures socially acceptable behaviour? Let me guess….we all wear state mandated uniforms of the same colour and work at state designated jobs making the same wage regardless of training and skill required and in our off hours listen to state mandated and cleared broadcasts designed to encourage “one think” and state approved values…
No thanks, not a world I want to see blossom in the Peoples Republic of Canada .
excellent letter. the monetary system as is has run its course. if it ever had value, that is debatable; but now, it is bankrupt – financially and morally. we are no longer a country, nor a world, of scarcity. and yet, scarcity is now a carefully measured construct, to ensure profits and greed, to add a dimension to control by the uppermost of the top 1% over the vast masses, and to ensure a hierarchy of haves over have-nots. to support those at the levers of control, rights and freedoms are systematically smudged and altogether removed in the name of security, ostensibly to protect our freedoms (how double speak is that). privacy has never been as under attack as it has been , especially over the last 20 years, and you cannot have freedom without privacy: as privacy is undermined, so too is freedom.
the reply from justobs is the classic thoughtless regurgitation associated with the mass brainwashing of the masses by the system, which is underscored by the corporate owned media and the waste that has become our education system. add to the lack of insight offered by justobs the usual one line sound bite: capitalism may not perfect but it is the best there is…yeah, like the model t may not be perfect…or, bleeding people to treat illness may not be perfect…or massive orphanages may not be perfect…. what justobs and similar “thinking” folk seem to miss is that we must evolve: to do so means we must come to terms with out shortcomings and failures and weaknesses and move to improve. to jump from changing what is wrong with our economic system – and the multitude of unsustainable and cruel outcomes consequent to it – to determine that the only outcome is a peoples republic approach is utter nonsense: again, the thoughtless jumble that is associated with brainwashing.
does justobs know that china is not communist, even though their corrupt political leaders (as do ours) may refer to themselves as such? there is no equality there: hence, it is not communist. there was no equality in the ussr, hence no communism. there is no communism anywhere to be found in the world today, save perhaps whatever first peoples may still exist that remain unaffected by foreign greed and exploitation.
does justobs know that communism is an economic approach, not a political one? hence, it is very possible, and imperative, that a more equal economic system also may exist under a more equal political system. does justobs know that it is not only possible, but essential, that a more social economic system be upheld by an open, honest, transparent democratic system? at present, our system is lacking in all of that, both economically and politically.
while we may not be ready to appreciate full equality among all people, we surely can do better to lift the bottom and place a significant ceiling on the top. greed is an illness, and its effects have proven to be ruinous to peoples and cultures/societies, to the living planet, and can consequently even be deemed criminal. indeed, far too may people are paying the price for the increasing concentration of wealth into very few hands. therefore, unless, one is wholly ignorant or unusually cruel, it is imperative that we evolve.
Biff, I’m afraid it is not I who is “brainwashed”. You have proven my point by your generic condemnation of the monetary system and all it’s perceived evils while offering no reasoned alternative. You ask. on a number of occasions if I am aware of certain points. Short answer, yes. I am also able to distinguish reality from fantasy and you, my friend, are living in a world without foundation.
If you wish to pursue your utopian dream might I suggest you consider proving it’s validity in a less hostile environment where control can be exercised by the “wise one’s” . Given you seem to scoff at the Peoples Republic approach I take it you have a more benevolent dictatorship in mind ? I understand there is still a relatively undeveloped piece of Guyana where another leader thought he could solve the peoples problems through collective work for Mother Earth…Jonestown if memory serves.
Good luck.
Excellent reference to Jonestown J.O.
It’s not the monetary system that is at fault. It’s greed, corruption, and ego. Any proposed monetary system or form of trade will fall victim to those characteristics. Just like it’s not poverty that is a “brunt cause of crime” (as Biff stated). See my reply to Biff in this thread:
https://lethbridgeherald.com/commentary/letters-to-the-editor/2020/06/25/defunding-police-an-overreaction/#comment-183528
justobs – why always the return to a dictatorship or totalitarianism as the alternative to crony capitalism? curious, too, that you use jonestown as an example, which of course is not a relevant example.
your response to my entry demonstrates how deeply people are suckered into embracing a horrible economic model. alternatives are available. the curious thing is that there remain many people that are opposed to sharing more equally, and are further opposed to giving due consideration to sustainability. it is cruelty and self destruction and madness at its most sublime.
the answer to our issues is not totalitarianism, and that is not what one gets if a society chooses to even out the economy more fairly. in case one is not aware, what one has in russia and china are primarily capitalist models economically, but with an autocracy or totalitarian regime politically. does that mean those are the only political outcomes of capitalism? well, truth be told, with each passing decade our political system is moving closer to those political models.
a more even, sustainable and egalitarian society is not merely utopian; it is, however, more difficult to achieve when too many people are hooked on greed and feeling great about having as much more as they can than others. it is more difficult to attain when people simply regurgitate the same old tired falsehoods that it is either capitalism or totalitarianism. and, to be unable to accept that the economic model that no longer serves us well – indeed, it is killing us/the planet – needs to be altered, and in the face of the most obvious and serious consequences due to our economic system unfolding before us in real time, demonstrates a foolishness that equates to stupid addiction. we can do better, and we best get started.