THE CURMUDGEON CHRONICLE - #229

THE CURMUDGEON CHRONICLE ©

AN IRREVERENT VIEW


Time Line:
Date Line: Flemington New Jersey

E. H. Harriman was detested by Teddy Roosevelt. He was a ruthless speculator and manipulator, yet, he taught his children that great wealth was a responsibility and that “Money must be used for the good of the country.”

He and others like him built the United States into a world power. They were the lions of yesterday: though not saintly, their believed in service to this country. The service concept has been replaced solely by ambition for personal power in their counterparts today. The lions of yesterday were ambitious, but they knew the country’s strength was the basis for their success.

The idea that, “What is good for General Motors is good for the US” may sound overweening, but the concomitant was there, even if unspoken… “Without an equal benefit to the US, nothing that General Motors does has much value”. That two-way street made US-style capitalism a success. The conjuncture of power and property in the control of people, who see the country as the ultimate beneficiary of those assets, turned a wilderness populated by penniless immigrants into an organized and productive society.

Old style capitalism only benefited a ruling person or caste. No revolution had ever before resulted in the birth of a nation where power and property were not given by a deity (or by force of arms) to a king, emperor, pontiff or avatar. Our revolution created a class of entrepreneur unknown before: a class of persons whose assets were protected by law from appropriation by Government or Church. It was clear that such safety required you to protect and defend the country that made your success possible.

The old-style US entrepreneur was a globalist. He sold his products where ever customers existed. He protected his markets, know-how, and manufacturing capabilities against foreign control and incursion. He bought raw materials and added value. The country became the standard by which all others were judged. Those attitudes and skills let this country win two World Wars and land on the Moon: unfortunately such people no longer run our enterprises.

They have been replaced by persons for whom personal wealth and power are the ultimate goal. Their standing is measured only by the ability to make a profit, regardless of the consequences to the United States. These men also have bought the people who govern us. They break treaties, torture people, and cause businesses to close and displace millions of workers. They force us to fight wars that should not be fought to further their own interests.

We have come to the quadrennial selection of a President to lead us, shape our internal and foreign policies, and correct the ills created during the past decade. It is the first time that a true populist candidate has a chance to hold the nation’s reins since Andrew Jackson.

The platform of mere “change” is not compelling. What is compelling is the need to define what that change will be. Will the “change” develop people with the service oriented attitudes of the lions of yesterday?

We must select a leader who recognizes that change has to include a return to self-sufficiency, and a Government that cares equally for its citizens and its enterprises.

The lions of yesterday are watching.

Howard Stamer