This is an excerpt of an article written by Riane Eisler and published in Huffington Post in September, 2008.
Our economic system needs a major overhaul. What we’re seeing today is how inefficient unregulated markets really are, just as we’ve seen that, rather than raining prosperity down on us, “trickle down economics” were a disaster. On the other hand, what’s needed is not shifting to socialism. Ironically, the same administration that screamed about creeping socialism at the mere mention of business regulations took over Freddie Mac and Fannie Mac. These huge enterprises are now state owned. If that’s not socialism, what is?
This crisis could have been avoided if the rules of the economic game were not slanted to protect uncaring and irresponsible business practices. Beyond the necessary government regulations dismantled by Republicans, who stubbornly refused to apply virtually any controls to granting credit and allowing credit trading by banks, are the basic rules driving our economic system which continue to promote rather than prevent uncaring and irresponsible behaviors. This again is behind the Bush Administration’s proposed 700 billion dollar bailout – in still another nationalizing of failing enterprises with taxpayers’ funds that should go to promote human welfare and environmental sustainability instead.
Insanity has been defined as continuing to do things that don’t make sense, that don’t achieve their stated goals, that cause misery and unhappiness.
So where do we go from here? First, let’s not let the government use failed economic measures of corporate welfare to put its finger in the bursting economic dike. We must urge Congress to instead enact measures that offer better protection from loss to people’s bank accounts, from foreclosures, and shores up small investments.
We invite you to read the rest of Riane Eisler’s Huffington Post article here.
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