As our government is set to acquit our President, I sit here contemplating why is this happening, who benefits the most & how will this affect our society in the years to come. In essence, what will be the unintended consequences?
Capitalism is an economic system & does not require democracy to exist. Democracy is a political system and also theoretically does not require capitalism to exist. Our current society is a balance between Democracy & Capitalism or to put it another way, a balance between money & society. Yes, capitalism is about money & democracy is about society. It’s a simplistic analogy but fundamentally correct.
What I have seen over the past months watching our political appointees (yes, we voted for them) is a battle for the soul of our country. We as a country have over the past 250 years have attempted to prioritized money over society (think Wall Street with Michael Douglas). However we have gone through periods when our country was prospering where we have prioritized society over money.
This can be seen through the continued invasion of our government into its citizens private lives. Our political leaders decided that more laws & more regulations are required to govern their citizens. The unintended consequence of this reality is that it has led to the current divide in our society and among its citizens:
- Citizens who now look to their government to solve their problems, to protect their interests, to keep them safe. (These citizens primarily now live in urban settings)
- Citizens who continue to strongly believe that nothing is given in life, only earned. (These citizens primarily now live in rural settings)
The question now is what will be the unintended consequences of this current political battle. I would submit that the unintended consequences will be a break down in our countries legal system which is the very foundation on which democracy & capitalism operate. What I mean by this comment is as follows.
After the Clinton impeachment, a teenager was asked by a priest if oral sex was against his religion. The teenager quickly responded that oral was not considered sex & therefore not against his religion. We now have a whole generation of young adults who have moved the goalposts in regard to what is and what is not sex.
Our elected officials are now in the process of effectively changing the rules of law and with this decision, the next generation will grow up no longer respecting the rule of law which is the foundation on which the basic institutions of our country is based…. Capitalism & Democracy.
Without upholding the foundational elements on which our country exists, there can be no agreement on how to move our society forward. We will be relegated to a period where the country, its elected officials and citizens have to redefine what are the basic principles to which we can agree and how does this match our current framework on which our capitalistic & democratic systems are based.
In conclusion, the actions by our elected political figures have opened the door to requiring fundamental changes to our current systems and such changes(whatever they may be) may revitalize our countries future or hasten its demise. I only wish I knew the outcome.
