You’re no doubt aware of Margaret Thatcher’s quote about socialism:

“The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.” http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Margaret_Thatcher

I was pondering on that and had this thought:

“The problem with capitalism is that eventually you run out of people to exploit.”

Now I don’t know if I read that somewhere long ago, or if it’s some amalgamation of my readings, but regardless or origin, I like it. (And I do hope it’s an original thought – I don’t have many of those.)

“In reaction to the economic injustice of the Gilded Age, workers helped transform the vistas of reform by bringing new concerns for the underclass of urban poor. They inspired and guided Progressives to challenge the reigning ethos of laissez-faire, and to address the problems of crowded tenement housings, sweatshops, child labor. Where industry was cruel or uncomprehending of the human beings it employed, labor insisted in the ten- and eight-hour day, time for leisure and the enjoyment of live, and ultimately health benefits and insurance that would protect workers and their families; none of these achievements came easily, indeed all were resisted fiercely, yet in time they became standard features of American life.” - “There is Power in a Union” by Philip Dray, p. 7. Buy on Amazon: http://amzn.to/dhHmFi

Excerpt from President Roosevelt’s January 11, 1944 message to the Congress of the United States on the State of the Union:

It is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for the winning of a lasting peace and the establishment of an American standard of living higher than ever before known. We cannot be content, no matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people—whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth—is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure.

This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights—among them the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and liberty.

As our nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.

We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. “Necessitous men are not free men.” People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.

In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.

Among these are:

• The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;
• The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
• The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
• The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
• The right of every family to a decent home;
• The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
• The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
• And finally, the right to a good education.

All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being. America’s own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for all our citizens. For unless there is security here at home, there cannot be lasting peace in the world.

(Source: Wikipedia & Jan 11,1944 FDR Fireside Chat)

YouTube: http://bit.ly/6IPBA