It's hard to believe it was only 100 years ago that General Electric, one of the largest U.S. corporations, voluntarily gave its workforce a pension, profit sharing, life insurance, medical coverage and housing assistance. Today if the chairman of GE or any large U.S. corporation gave his workers an equivalent number of benefits, he would be labeled a socialist out of touch with his peers.
Capitalism is the greatest economic system in the history of the world, but it is being abused. We’re living in a second Gilded Age with a version of capitalism that is seductive and wrongheaded. It is monopolistic. Some argue extreme wealth inequality is not a problem for the US; history tells us otherwise. Rugged individualism is an enduring American myth. But virtually everyone has needed help on their way to the top.
There is nothing wrong with Jeff Bezos spending $50 million on his three-day wedding in Venice while sailing on his $500 million yacht if he would pay his workers a living wage and provide decent health care. I’m not against wealth or the wealthy. Most everyone aspires to become wealthy. But with wealth comes responsibility.
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James Etling
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