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Human Centered Capitalism
The United States has slipped away from its commitment to Human Centered Capitalism, and our country is suffering for it. Both the Republicans and the Democrats are to blame. The Forward Party is the answer. Not beholden to the extremes of the right or left, the Forward Party will once again ensure that our economy works for all Americans. The Forward Party will bring back Human-Centered Capitalism.
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“Human-Centered Capitalism” is capitalism moderated by democracy to ensure every American can participate, benefit and play by the same set of rules.
Almost a century ago our country rejected both socialism, the complete government control of the economy, and unregulated, survival of the fittest capitalism. Instead, we took the middle path between the two, the compromise of Human Centered Capitalism. We stayed with capitalism, with the free market, but we used democracy to make sure our economy worked for everybody. We certainly didn’t achieve this for all citizens, but it was the beacon that guided our government. It was a fulfillment of the most basic promise of our Constitution, the promise of equality of opportunity. Our country has never believed in a guarantee of equality of outcomes, but we have always believed that the basic purpose of government was to extend individual freedom – to make sure that every individual had the opportunity and ability to choose the course of their life.
Human-Centered Capitalism had broad support throughout society, including support from both of the major parties. While they certainly saw the mix differently, Republicans and Democrats agreed that the government should both nurture the free market and make sure it served the whole of our country.
And Human-Centered Capitalism worked. It allowed us to tap into the immense talent and ambition of every part of our population. Capitalism is more efficient if there is one set of rules; a level playing field lets everybody compete equally, creating the greatest value for society. Making sure everyone shared in that value put money in people’s pockets, creating the engine of our massive consumer economy. Human-Centered Capitalism gave the United States the largest economy in the world and eventually led to the global collapse of socialism.
Undermining Human Centered Capitalism
Over the last several decades our country has slipped away from its commitment to Human Centered Capitalism. In part this happened because of the ebb and flow of history. Our model had won – the free market moderated by democracy produced by far the greatest wealth and personal freedom. Once the threat of socialism was gone, we stopped paying as much attention.
But most of the blame rests with the two major parties. Both began to step back from, and actively undermine, the compromise of Human-Centered Capitalism.
The true believers in unfettered capitalism still had a home in the right wing of the Republican Party. They claimed the victory over socialism as their own and argued our economy had matured and needed less regulation. At every opportunity they cast government as inherently incompetent and untrustworthy. The true believers in socialism found a home in the left wing of the Democratic Party. They viewed efforts to make capitalism more human as hopeless and questioned trying to help people succeed in a system that was inherently oppressive. Another part of the Democratic Party bought into the idea of a triumphant capitalism and happily went along with de-regulating our economy. The Republican Party slowly chipped away at the protections of Human Centered Capitalism, and the Democrats either helped with the dismantling or stood by and did nothing.
As a result, in ways large and small, our country has stepped back from Human-Centered Capitalism. We ’ve stepped back from using the powers of government to ensure everyone can participate in our economy. We’ve allowed our bridges and roads to slip into disrepair. We’ve stepped back from ensuring every student has access to a quality education. We’ve allowed unions to be undermined. We’ve weakened the parts of government that protect us from products that harm us or our environment.
We have rolled back financial regulations and consciously didn’t extend regulation as Wall Street created new financial products, or as new technologies like the Internet were transforming our society. We’ve allowed rules to be slipped into our tax code which treat the wealthy better than wage earners. We’ve gradually enabled corporations to receive preferential treatment over people. This has allowed the part of our population with the means and sophistication to route their economic activities through corporations to enjoy even more economic advantages. In many different ways, we’ve backed away from our commitment to providing a level playing field. Our form of capitalism has become more predatory, and less human-centered.
Stepping back from Human-Centered Capitalism has harmed our country. The numbers don’t lie. Where once almost every American benefitted as our economy expanded, over the past thirty years almost all the gain has gone to a very small segment of our population, with the middle class and poor seeing almost no economic advancement. We have stopped doing the things that made our capitalism work for all Americans.
The Forward Party Platform: Again Making Capitalism Human-Centered
We cannot continue down our current path. Our country needs to get back to the free market moderated by democracy. We need to again make sure that every American has the ability and the opportunity to participate in our economic system. We need to get back to one set of financial, investing and insurance rules. We need to again ensure capitalism works for all Americans.
This doesn’t require a grand transformation of our economy. But it does mean examining the actions of our government in reference to their impact on human beings. Progress will be from the cumulative impact of many smaller changes and refinements that give more Americans the chance to participate in, and benefit from, our capitalist economy. Progress will come from shining a light on and ending the second sets of rules that have created an unlevel playing field. The Forward Party, one small change at a time, will again ensure that all Americans benefit from our economy. Not beholden to the extremists on either side, the Forward Party will lead our country back to the compromise of Human Centered Capitalism.
_______________________________________
“Human-Centered Capitalism” is capitalism moderated by democracy to ensure every American can participate, benefit and play by the same set of rules.
Almost a century ago our country rejected both socialism, the complete government control of the economy, and unregulated, survival of the fittest capitalism. Instead, we took the middle path between the two, the compromise of Human Centered Capitalism. We stayed with capitalism, with the free market, but we used democracy to make sure our economy worked for everybody. We certainly didn’t achieve this for all citizens, but it was the beacon that guided our government. It was a fulfillment of the most basic promise of our Constitution, the promise of equality of opportunity. Our country has never believed in a guarantee of equality of outcomes, but we have always believed that the basic purpose of government was to extend individual freedom – to make sure that every individual had the opportunity and ability to choose the course of their life.
Human-Centered Capitalism had broad support throughout society, including support from both of the major parties. While they certainly saw the mix differently, Republicans and Democrats agreed that the government should both nurture the free market and make sure it served the whole of our country.
And Human-Centered Capitalism worked. It allowed us to tap into the immense talent and ambition of every part of our population. Capitalism is more efficient if there is one set of rules; a level playing field lets everybody compete equally, creating the greatest value for society. Making sure everyone shared in that value put money in people’s pockets, creating the engine of our massive consumer economy. Human-Centered Capitalism gave the United States the largest economy in the world and eventually led to the global collapse of socialism.
Undermining Human Centered Capitalism
Over the last several decades our country has slipped away from its commitment to Human Centered Capitalism. In part this happened because of the ebb and flow of history. Our model had won – the free market moderated by democracy produced by far the greatest wealth and personal freedom. Once the threat of socialism was gone, we stopped paying as much attention.
But most of the blame rests with the two major parties. Both began to step back from, and actively undermine, the compromise of Human-Centered Capitalism.
The true believers in unfettered capitalism still had a home in the right wing of the Republican Party. They claimed the victory over socialism as their own and argued our economy had matured and needed less regulation. At every opportunity they cast government as inherently incompetent and untrustworthy. The true believers in socialism found a home in the left wing of the Democratic Party. They viewed efforts to make capitalism more human as hopeless and questioned trying to help people succeed in a system that was inherently oppressive. Another part of the Democratic Party bought into the idea of a triumphant capitalism and happily went along with de-regulating our economy. The Republican Party slowly chipped away at the protections of Human Centered Capitalism, and the Democrats either helped with the dismantling or stood by and did nothing.
As a result, in ways large and small, our country has stepped back from Human-Centered Capitalism. We ’ve stepped back from using the powers of government to ensure everyone can participate in our economy. We’ve allowed our bridges and roads to slip into disrepair. We’ve stepped back from ensuring every student has access to a quality education. We’ve allowed unions to be undermined. We’ve weakened the parts of government that protect us from products that harm us or our environment.
We have rolled back financial regulations and consciously didn’t extend regulation as Wall Street created new financial products, or as new technologies like the Internet were transforming our society. We’ve allowed rules to be slipped into our tax code which treat the wealthy better than wage earners. We’ve gradually enabled corporations to receive preferential treatment over people. This has allowed the part of our population with the means and sophistication to route their economic activities through corporations to enjoy even more economic advantages. In many different ways, we’ve backed away from our commitment to providing a level playing field. Our form of capitalism has become more predatory, and less human-centered.
Stepping back from Human-Centered Capitalism has harmed our country. The numbers don’t lie. Where once almost every American benefitted as our economy expanded, over the past thirty years almost all the gain has gone to a very small segment of our population, with the middle class and poor seeing almost no economic advancement. We have stopped doing the things that made our capitalism work for all Americans.
The Forward Party Platform: Again Making Capitalism Human-Centered
We cannot continue down our current path. Our country needs to get back to the free market moderated by democracy. We need to again make sure that every American has the ability and the opportunity to participate in our economic system. We need to get back to one set of financial, investing and insurance rules. We need to again ensure capitalism works for all Americans.
This doesn’t require a grand transformation of our economy. But it does mean examining the actions of our government in reference to their impact on human beings. Progress will be from the cumulative impact of many smaller changes and refinements that give more Americans the chance to participate in, and benefit from, our capitalist economy. Progress will come from shining a light on and ending the second sets of rules that have created an unlevel playing field. The Forward Party, one small change at a time, will again ensure that all Americans benefit from our economy. Not beholden to the extremists on either side, the Forward Party will lead our country back to the compromise of Human Centered Capitalism.