Category Archives: culture

Oligarchy, Government by the Few

Posted on by
1

How much does it cost to buy control of the North Carolina State Legislature? Probably not as much as you think.

You can ask Art Pope, the CEO of Raleigh-based Variety Wholesalers. Last year, he and his family invested $240,000 in legislative races all over the state. Their favored candidates won enough races to win control of the State Legislature for the Republicans. It’s the first time that the Party has controlled both statehouses in North Carolina in more than 100 years.

Pope is one of a new breed of Oligarchs who choose to circumvent the democratic process and dictate public outcomes through sheer power, money, and will. Continue reading →

Are We Wired for Fairness?

Posted on by
Reply

As economic beings, are we wired for fairness or for greed?

One of the 20th Century’s most influential economists, Milton Friedman, spent a lifetime advocating that business has no legitimate goal except the pursuit of ever-greater profits. Should we be guided solely by self-interest or even greed in the pursuit of our economic lives?

It’s not just an idle question. It goes to the heart of public policy questions about accumulation of wealth, progressive taxation, corporate social responsibility, and social safety nets.

The fundamental free market belief is that everyone is driven, or ought to be driven solely by self-interest. If we buy that belief, then it’s only a small leap to the next one, which says that the only true goal of business is the maximization of profit. But maximizing profit also means maximizing individual income and wealth. And that pretty much brings us to where we are today, where 20% of the population owns 85% of everything worth owning in America. Continue reading →

a “peach” of a healthcare system

Posted on by
3

Imagine if you could find a healthcare plan that offered excellent coverage, didn’t exclude pre-existing conditions, incorporated several features to promote better health, and was incredibly affordable to boot?

Let’s call such a plan the Neighborhood Health Improvement Plan – NIP for short. Here’s how it works. A group of neighbors gather together to develop a more sensible and less-costly alternative to our crazy-quilt system of health insurance. They decide to join up with other neighborhood groups with similar intent to create a self-insurance system, which increases their buying power and spreads the risk across a wider number of people.

Each neighborhood NIP chapter pays a small monthly fee per member per month for medical coverage. Each chapter is also responsible for paying the first $5000 of medical expenses incurred by all the members in its group. After that deductible, NIP pays 90% of all expenses. Continue reading →