The Capitalist Golden Goose

James M. Ridgway, Jr.
2 min readNov 12, 2018

Yes, it is the capitalist goose that lays the golden eggs. And if the goose is well fed and well guarded the entire society prospers. The trouble is that too many capitalists are greedy and impatient. They want all the eggs right now so they end up killing the goose in a rush to get at its eggs and everyone suffers, even the capitalists themselves sometime. Excessive capitalist greed of the 1920’s lead to the great depression of the 1930’s, and then another rush of out of control greed and criminality lead to the great housing and financial collapse of 2008.

A well-regulated brand of capitalism is a benefit to all, but predatory capitalism rewards only a powerful few and leads in the end to everyone’s goose getting cooked.

Apparently the GOP shilling for a super wealthy few donors has never figured out this plot. Their mantra is always smaller (weaker) government and less regulation. In other word let the rich and powerful do away with the rules so that they can run wild and stuff their pockets until the goose dies. Sure sometimes they end up doing themselves in along with everyone else, but mostly it’s the average citizen that’s left holding the dead bird.

I read today where one fellow, in defense of unfettered capitalism, said in effect : well it’s all that money that the rich spend on yachts and other high valued toys that produces the taxes that pays for teachers, roads and all the other necessities of a nation. Yes, to a degree that is true, however as Republicans continue to push for less and less taxes for the well off more and more money ends up being stashed in overseas bank accounts — drained from the domestic economy. I mean out of all the billions and billions made by the supper rich only a small percentage ends up being domestically spent on revenue producing luxury items.

And so with the government desperately needing revenue for essential services, the Republicans of course turn to wanting to take it away from average citizens by trying to cut things like social security, Medicare and Medicaid. Indeed, the GOP is not backing a well functioning democracy; it is merely shilling for an American oligarchy. All it’s talk of the Constitution and freedom is but a thinly veiled smokescreen for grasping for personal power and wealth. The Democrats need to keep reminding citizens that that today’s GOP cares not a wit about any American worth less than a billion.

America needs a finely balanced system of capitalism and socialism, a system tailored by hard rules and regulations that allow all within the nation to prosper fairly. Yes my friends feed and guard the golden goose of capitalism well so that all may have the ability to afford a good and rewarding life. This cannot be accomplished as long as the wealthy are in a position to hobble the government and author its bills via mercenaries like the so-called freedom caucus. MAGA is a road to the poor house.

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James M. Ridgway, Jr.

Jim Ridgway, Jr. military writer — author of the American Civil War classic, “Apprentice Killers: The War of Lincoln and Davis.” Christmas gift, yes!