JAPANESE PARADIGM II: Toward Finding a Solution

We begin by taking confidence that we’ve weathered difficult economic storms before-most recently in the 1930’s under the direction of FDR. We will be in a similarly dark period shortly. But we got out of that mess and we will again. Under FDR, we succeeded by radically redefining the role and purpose of government. His solution won’t work for us now, and we should not regress to big government. We need a blueprint that gives democracy to the people, not politicians, and one that removes the power of the American Zaibatsu and ‘iron triangle’. The measures and policies suggested in the Jubilee amendment are a good way to start the dialogue.

We can begin with direct democracy-give people the ability to vote on important issues and set the agenda. Direct democracy will give us the ability to say ‘NO’ to the powerful monied interests that control the political process. We can stop the porkbarreling. We can insure that any laws passed are done so for their original intent not as a way to pay back political favors and contributions with PORK. We can also reduce the ability of rich special interest groups, representing a fraction of the country, to set policies. We can prevent them from forcing legislation reflecting their own myopic view of the world and going against the hearts and wishes of the majority of Americans. Direct democracy will also give ordinary citizens a chance to propose laws, change laws and even get rid of laws that we see as wrong.

Direct democracy is not about Big Government, it is about downsizing government and returning power to the people. It is about empowerment. It is about reducing the bureaucratic maze that controls us. It does so by reigning in and reducing government and letting us collectively control our own destiny. Ronald Reagan once said ‘ When those who are governed do too little, those who govern can-and often will-do too much.’(Second Inaugural Address as Governor of California, Sacramento, January 4, 1971.) By doing too little we have let democracy slip from our hands and into the hands of politicians controlled by wealthy special interests.

It is also time we considered redressing the wrongs of a policy bias that has benefited a tiny fraction of Americans at the expense of the majority. A national debate should begin about a wealth tax of sorts. The very rich -- the top 5 to 10% of wealthy American stockholders (Zaibatsu) unjustly profiting from financial bailouts and corporate welfare should pay a hefty tax ( Corporate Welfare: The Face, the Case, the Remedy). Two decades of unjust tax policies, PORK, corporate welfare and the myopic focus on monetary policy have benefited a handful of wealthy people while 40% of Americans saw their net worth decline between 1983 and 1993. Taxing those who receive a windfall at the expense of others is not new to this nation. The Reagan-era Economic Recovery Tax of 1981 taxed oil companies for their windfall gains from the spike in oil prices beginning with the Arab Oil Embargo in 1973.

It is also time we clipped the wings of the Federal Reserve and reduced its independence and made it answerable to the President, better yet to the people. Pundits have argued long about how the merits of an independent Federal Reserve harping on the temptation of the executive branch to print money and others. But an independent Federal Reserve flies against the principals upon which America is founded. By making the Federal Reserve independent it does not operate like the rest of the government under checks and balances. In other words we are giving unintended privileges that are granted to no other branch of government. The chorus of protest for removing the Federal Reserve’s independence needs to make it voice heard!

We need also need to begin questioning the purpose and function of corporations and their charters. Who do they serve and in whose interests do they operate? (28)Notes They are part of the ‘iron triangle’ and their power needs to be eroded as well. Worse they mock the words, "We are all created equal"

Direct democracy, a national wealth tax and curbing the Federal reserve are radical proposals. But if we are to learn from Japan’s mistakes we must undertake such measures as a minimum. Japan’s financial quagmire celebrated its 11^th birthday and seems to be taking a step towards the worst. If we are to avoid the same or worse we need to make radical changes.

But we will need more than changes. We will need to have a strong spirit and courage. We will be facing a darkness most of us have never seen before. We can take inspiration from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt who in his inauguration speech in 1933 told us that ; "All we have to fear is fear itself’. We’ve all heard those words before. But many of us have not heard the words that follow. They are very applicable to our life today;

In such a spirit on my part and yours we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank, God, only material things. Values have shrunken to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen… The moneychangers have fled from their high seats in the temple or our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit. Happiness lies not in mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men. Recognition of the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the false belief that public office and high political position are to be valued only by the standards of pride of place and personal profit; and there must be an end to a conduct in banking and business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing. Small wonder confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, on unselfish performance; without them it cannot live. Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation asks for action, and action now…..(Emphasis added)

These words need to be etched in our minds and made into a monument so that we will not be duped again. They will also give us strength to overcome the fear that will soon challenge us. Thirty years of profligate policies under the Float is a large price now payable in full. Big Business and Special Interests will have their talking heads spew words of fear and impending doom. We must not succumb to some quick fix or bailout. We must acknowledge that the system is broken and does not work and that we want and need change-we want a more democratic union! The nation asks for action - and action NOW!