The Panglosses of Private Enterprise

"It was all indispensable," replied the one eyed doctor, "and private misfortunes

make the public good, so that the more private misfortunes there are, the more

everything is well."

--------Pangloss in Candide, Voltaire.

“Now, if you talk about bailouts for everybody else, there comes a place where if

you just start bailing out all the individuals instead of telling them to adapt, the

culture dies.”

-------Charles Munger, Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, 9/14/2010.

Mr. Munger, as well as his "good friend" and partner, Warren Buffett,

says we should "thank God" the Government had the taxpayers bail out

the Investment Banks. Private misfortunes, fraud and racketeering by

Wall Street investment entities, should be rescued by the very public it

fleeces daily. And, we should be thankful for the opportunity of helping

those who destroyed our pensions, savings and social safety net our tax

revenue secures.

After the derivatives driven debt crisis and various other episodes of

malfeasance by private enterprise; British Petroleum in the Gulf,

ENRON and many others; why do Americans still have more faith in

private enterprise over public enterprise in providing best for all?

This "one-eyed" naivete is akin to Pangloss's belief that "Everything is

for the best." It displays a total ignorance of the past and parrots marketing

points corporate media outlets broadcast as gospel truth 24 hours a day.

Private enterprise benefits a few with the revenue of many. To believe it

provides better outcomes for society, insofar as being egalitarian, just or

ethical, is to deny its very essence. It was created to provide revenue for a few.

The past 30 years have been "The Age of Private Enterprise Panglosses".

They reign uncontested. Poverty rates are rising. Income gaps have never

been greater. Social Mobility is nil. The wealthiest 2% are doing wondrous

as the lower 98% are stagnant or doing worse. Corporations and Banks sit

on mountains of cash. Average Americans suffer foreclosure in record

numbers or live under enormous debt burdens. And still, after all this, we

hear the proud banter of these Private Enterprise Panglosses telling us it's

all the Government's fault. They're half right. The Government sides with

them.

We should give them another chance to help us(out of our wealth). And, for

God's sake, don't ask them to "rescue civilization" or give a penny more in

taxes because that's asking too much. It would destroy them. And what could

we ever do without them? Thank God they're around to pilfer everything that

slipped through their fat fingers last time.