A Constitutional Failure

I got an email from the ACLU today. I subscribe to the ACLU and the moveon.org emails, so that I can follow Ronald Reagan's example in "keeping up with the other side."

The email included this text: "That sure doesn't sound like the separation of church and state guaranteed in the Constitution to us"

At this point, I am going to sit in a corner and cry. Because, as I pointed out in a previous post, The Constitution does not contain the phrase, or even the idea of "Separation of Church and State". The phrase comes from a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury baptists, declaring that "their legislature should make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." So according to Jefferson, if the Congress wants to pray before every session, then they have the right to freely exercise their religion.

At this point, we have two possibilities. A) The ACLU hasn't actually read the Constitution, so they don't know that the phrase "Separation of church and state" doesn't appear in it; [which I find hard to believe, given the fact that a large portion of the ACLU's work is in the courts, meaning that it's employees should have law degrees; and I think that they still require you to read the Constitution in law school] or B) The ACLU is lying to give credibility to their words. I quite honestly don't know which one is scarier. Either they are ignorant, or they are deceptive; and for an organization as powerful as the ACLU, that's a frightening proposition.

So which is it? Are they ignorant, or deceptive?

American Capitalist

I’m a red-blooded, roughneck $%^%#^%

I’m a &)(*&^ American capitalist

I got a kill ‘em all, give *&^)^ license to hate

I’m that one shot one kill bringer of pain.

I don’t want to believe I’m empty

I don’t want to admit I’m wrong

I don’t want to regret who I’ve become

When I’m an American capitalist

An American capitalist

This point of view, expressed by Five Finger Death Punch, in their song American Capitalist, reflects many people’s attitudes towards the free market. Most people today, however subconsciously, however far it is buried in the back of their minds, on some level think that making a profit is somehow immoral and shameful. This message is encouraged by the media, the Hollywood elite, and the current occupant of the White House.

And that was the way I thought, for a long time. I recognized that American Capitalism[1] was far better than American Socialism; but I was slightly embarrassed at the prospect of making money. I was not even what Stalin would call bourgeoisie; I was not in business for myself, though I had plans to be there. But my thought was this: How can you justify the ‘obscene’ profits that many companies seem to make?

And then I came across, in the wonderfully written Thou Shall Prosper, by Rabbi Daniel Lapin, the idea that…make sure you’re sitting down…Making a profit is inherently moral.

Now, let me be clear, I don’t entirely subscribe to that philosophy; and neither does Rabbi Lapin. There are ways to profit that are inherently immoral; like knocking a lady down and taking her purse; or saying that you’re selling someone a pound of beans when you’re really selling them fifteen ounces. These are inherently immoral.

But beyond these inherent immoralities; Rabbi Lapin maintains, and I concur, that making a profit is inherently moral. It is good to make a profit, and here is why, I proudly call myself an American Capitalist.

When I make a profit, you benefit. When I profit, it’s because I have provided some good or service to you that you decided was worth more than the money you spent to acquire it. I have done something to serve you, and is anyone really going to argue that serving people is immoral?

No one will argue that serving people is immoral; but many will argue that serving people ought to be done for free.

But here’s the kicker. When I provide a service to you, and you give me money to do it; what you are doing is also inherently moral, even more so than I am doing when I provide you a service, because you are benefiting an entire group of people, or, to put it more precisely, an entire company of people. 

Business is inherently moral, despite what leftists, socialists, and communists will tell you.

 There are many other benefits to the system of American Capitalism, which will be covered in later papers. And so, Five Finger Death Punch, it is for this reason that I proudly proclaim myself a &)(*&^ American capitalist

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[1] Just to be clear; I hate the term capitalism; it was designed by the USSR propaganda artists as a way of saying that money (capital) was the center of our lives (thus “Capital-ists). But, because it takes too long and is too awkward to say “The Free Market” every time, I will be using it in this paper