Has America reached the pinnacle of "successful" capitalism, and are we turning a corner toward a different economic structure? The now seemingly prophetic late Pope John Paul II warned of the consequences of our “sinful” Western culture based on run-away capitalism and excessive consumerism. No, I’m not Catholic.

Some conservatives and many of those who have more money than God insist that capitalism is THE way. It is supposedly the backbone of America’s success and the route to the American dream for all who set their minds to achievement. (This so conveniently ignores the many social/economic ills and injustices prevalent in our culture.) Despite our current financial crisis, this belief still stands among many and they are fretful for our future – NOT because capitalistic greed and excessive consumerism have eroded away jobs and the life savings of many working class Americans; but rather, they are fretful of socialism and Marxism. We’ve all heard the references (thank you, Limbaugh), socialism and Marxism, disgustingly emitted from breath into air, mimicking the reference to an abominable disease that if even mentioned, could be contracted, resulting in a certain torturous death. REALLY???

While I have no preference for one over the other, socialism/Marxism, or any other specific social/economic structure for that matter, I have to question the validity of capitalism as the superior structure in the here and now. In hind-site, it seems the economic beliefs and behaviors of our young country over the generations unintentionally lead us here. Our founding mothers and fathers toiled under conditions unacceptable for our current society, to build this country, emboldened with the belief that their children would have a better life. The American ideal was born in the belief that if one worked hard and aspired to be more, the opportunity was always available, under the basic freedoms and liberties granted to us as American citizens, to achieve our greatest dreams.

What did “better” mean to our founding fathers and mothers? We could achieve more with less effort, and we would have bigger and better than our parents in every realm possible, thanks to the sacrifice of their hard work, sweat, tears, and sometimes even their blood. We were taught to get an education. Why? To earn a decent living so we could pass the torch on to our children, so we could have more and our children could have more and their children could have more. HAVE MORE of what? Is there an unending supply of “more?” Will your children have more? How many generations pass by before “more” becomes excessive and consumerism becomes a way of life, even overpowering humanitarianism and spiritualism? This doesn’t seem very godly and being that God is referenced in our pledge of allegiance, stamped onto our coins and monetary bills, how do we reconcile the current “American way” with “Godly?”

I’m all for self-reliance, sacrifice, and hard work to achieve a dream (thanks Mom & Dad). However, excess is depleting and balance is required for the survival of an interdependent ecosystem. When we suck the universe dry without giving back to it, it will eventually cease to exist. President Obama (that was fun to type) is asking us to rise up and leave no able hand idle for the sake of America’s future. We are being encouraged to change, to return to helping our neighbor, upholding our civic duties in attempts to avert a more catastrophic and looming peril. It seems almost certain that if we don’t voluntarily adopt more socialistic and Marxist behaviors and mind-sets we will self-destruct under our capitalistic greed and excessive consumerism. Components of socialism and Marxism, while frightening to many, may just hold the key that unlocks the door, releasing us from a potential self-inflicted future doom created, in large part, by runaway capitalism. My hope is that even if the words can’t be spoken by many without contempt, some ideals of socialism and Marxism can be asserted as necessary. Maybe we can just call it something else, for comfort purposes; you know “a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down.” Any ideas?