\nDemocracy in all its imperfect forms has dominated for centuries, saving\nthe world from tyranny more than once. Capitalism\nand the industrial age created economies at all levels from local to\nglobal. This resulted in a large,\nthriving middle class, spread of higher education, and myriad career fields to\nprovide employment opportunities as well as entrepreneurial opportunities. The system worked well and ensured an overall\npeaceful world. What will happen in the\nface of modern challenges including climate, resources, labor, et al? These issues should be front and center in\nthe 2020 election, along with national security and other crucial areas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nIn the 20th<\/sup> Century, the people imposed critical social\njustice protections that were necessary to maintain a viable system. These included things such as Social Security,\nMedicare, Medicaid, etc., that ensured that while most could thrive, there\nwould be minimal safeguards for those who would inevitably struggle or be left\nbehind. During the debates over passage\nof these programs, they were labelled as Socialist as the focus of the\nopposition, attempting to portray them as contrary to Capitalism or Democracy. Decades later they were entrenched in\nsociety, having fulfilled their intended promises. Agencies such as the EPA and OSHA were also\ncreated as another important check on the industrialists to ensure other\nnecessary protections for society as a whole. \nThe harmony of the system worked incredibly well, ensuring peace and\nprosperity. Democracy rose, Authoritarianism\ndeclined, and society prospered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \nPartly due to the rollout of Representative Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s Green New\nDeal (remember, this was intended as an aspirational statement, not as legislation\nto be enacted) that opened the door, Republicans will strive in 2020 to\nrecreate old fashioned identity politics and a battle between Capitalism and Socialism. This is the wrong debate to have for many\nreasons but would likely ultimately work in Republicans\u2019 favor as it would help\nthem avoid their record on substantive issues. Providing basic protections for society may\nhave roots in Socialism, but the impact of these programs has served to\nstrengthen Democracy and Capitalism, allowing corporate interests and earnings\nto soar; the resulting trade and stability helping to keep peace around the\nworld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThe past few years has seen an alarming rise in Authoritarianism around\nthe world, often disguised in disingenuous Populist tones. The movement feeds upon the growing\nfrustration of people who feel left out or left behind from the increasingly\ncomplex economy. Some blame\nglobalization and support withdrawal from international associations. Some blame immigrant populations that they\nclaim steal jobs or result in increased competition. Most object to wealth inequality and see the\ndivide between wealth and poverty growing, threatening their own livelihood and\nability to provide for their families. \nFor the first time in our history, Americans are not optimistic that the\nnext generation will have things better than the current.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nPlaying to a more extremist base, Republicans continue efforts to cut\nSocial Security, Medicare, Medicaid and agencies such as the EPA. They foment fear, hate, and xenophobia to\nkeep their base in check. However, the\nbigger threat to our future stems more from the natural evolution of our\nCapitalist economic systems. Don\u2019t get\nme wrong, I am a confirmed Capitalist. I\nalso believe there is a role for government to ensure certain minimum\nprotections and fair opportunities for its people. The point here is that economic developments\noccurring today will soon risk negative repercussions worldwide, will threaten\nthe future of Capitalism, and likely lead to more Authoritarianism as a means\nto control power. We must prevent this\npossible future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \nHere are some examples. We love\ntechnology. I do not know anyone who\nseriously believes we should regress to the days before electricity, cars,\nappliances, etc. Life centuries ago was\nextremely difficult and progress allowed many important innovations and\nimprovements to daily life. Disgruntled\nworking families in the U.S., many of whom voted for Donald Trump, were\nfrustrated and scared because of dwindling job prospects. They blamed immigrants for taking their\njobs. They blamed corporations for moving\noverseas, taking their jobs to cheaper markets. \nThe latter is certainly true to some extent. However, most jobs were made redundant by\ntechnology. Automation is improving at a\nrapid pace, making human workers more and more obsolete. The day will soon arrive where there are no\nactual manufacturing or industrial jobs, but for the technical people to\nmonitor the automation systems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \nFulfillment centers, from Amazon and others, are forcing the closure of\ntraditional brick and mortar stores. People\nare shopping from home via their laptops and phones resulting in traditional\nstores closing, even the large, legacy chains. \nShopping malls replaced main street and fulfillment centers are\nreplacing them. However, rather than transferring\njobs from stores to the large warehouses, the warehouses are becoming almost\nentirely automated. Giant robotic arms\nrace along the shelves stocking and retrieving items with the ability to carry\nsignificantly more weight than a human being. \nHumans will soon be relegated to few quality control, technical\nmaintenance, and management jobs. There\nis even a move to develop driverless vehicles and employ drones to make\ndeliveries, eliminating another category of human jobs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \nHigher education, always considered the great equalizer in providing\nopportunities for professional careers, is also contributing to the\nproblem. We have witnessed the onset of\nprivate, online schools that sell degrees. \nStudents can take classes from home no matter how far away they may live\nand can do the work at any time that is convenient. By not having dedicated class sessions, the\nschools do not have to restrict class size in the way they would if there were\nlive classes. The trend is expanding\nwith traditional campus schools offering online and distance learning\ncourses. If the trend continues, ivy-walled\ncampuses may fall the way of brick and mortar stores. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \nIt is true that in the past we have experienced eras of change that have\nspurred their own series of challenges and fears among people. We have survived those transformations and for\nthe most part continued to thrive. However,\nthis new era of change poses an existential, more encompassing challenge to\nsociety, specifically the workforce. People\nare rightfully concerned about where they will find future jobs. If all there is left to do is order things\nonline or publish personal blogs, how do people earn enough money to buy a\nhome, groceries, clothing and all of life\u2019s necessities? The Pixar 2008 animated film WALL-E offers a\nfictional but intriguing glimpse. As the\nplanet declines to one giant trash heap unable to sustain life, human kind\nescapes on a spaceship version of Noah\u2019s Ark. \nThey live on a never-ending cruise with nothing to do but eat and engage\nin recreational activities. Interesting\nconcept, but the problem is people need to earn money in the real world or they\ndon\u2019t eat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If the economy proceeds on this path and the job market steadily dissipates, does the population dramatically decline? Will people come together to survive collectively? This is not simply a U.S. or western civilization challenge. Automation will spread worldwide, so corporations will not be sending jobs anywhere. Dwindling resources from climate issues resulting in droughts, storms, fires, floods, famine, etc., will have global impact. Will governments change the status quo towards Authoritarianism to control the populations or Communism to ensure division of limited resources? We must address the need to improve our modern Capitalism now to avoid these potential consequences and minimize these threats to our future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The world community must address climate and environmental challenges immediately before the consequences become irreversible. Clean and sustainable energy create jobs. That\u2019s Capitalism and we need innovators to lead the way with the full support of government. Technology has done far more good than bad, but as a society we must not allow technology to threaten our future in an existential manner. This needs to be the economic debate we have in 2020. National security concerns continue to be paramount to protect our freedom from Authoritarian adversaries threatening our government to enable them to exploit world resources while we scramble internally. It was never U.S. policy to condone repressive tyrants, but now more than ever we need to stand together as a community to fight the rise of Authoritarianism, fear, hate, and division. The world depends on our collective success. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Democracy in all its imperfect forms has dominated for centuries, saving the world from tyranny more than once. 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