{"id":4826,"date":"2009-12-22T16:46:28","date_gmt":"2009-12-22T20:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/?p=4826"},"modified":"2012-12-26T16:14:50","modified_gmt":"2012-12-26T21:14:50","slug":"david-simon-on-capitalism-destroying-american-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/quote-of-the-day\/12\/22\/david-simon-on-capitalism-destroying-american-democracy\/","title":{"rendered":"David Simon On Capitalism Destroying American Democracy"},"content":{"rendered":"
“Yeah, that permeated it. One of the things we were saying was that reform was becoming more and more problematic as moneyed interests\u2014capitalism, which is sort of the ultimate Olympian god\u2014become more entrenched in the postmodern world. Reform becomes more and more problematic because the status quo is arranged in such a way as to maximize profit and to exalt profit\u2014particularly short-term profit\u2014over long-term societal benefit and\/or human beings…. It\u2019s one thing to recognize capitalism for the powerful economic tool it is and to acknowledge that, for better or for worse, we\u2019re stuck with it and, hey, thank God we have it. There\u2019s not a lot else that can produce mass wealth with the dexterity that capitalism can. But to mistake it for a social framework is an incredible intellectual corruption and it\u2019s one that the West has accepted as a given since 1980\u2014since Reagan. Human beings\u2014in this country in particular\u2014are worth less and less. When capitalism triumphs unequivocally, labor is diminished. It\u2019s a zero-sum game. People paid a much higher tax rate when Eisenhower was president, a much higher tax rate for the benefit of society, and all of us had more of a sense that we were included.”<\/p>\n