The excesses of crony capitalism flaunted during the Roaring Twenties led to the Great Depression. The depression demonstrated to all that the working man couldn’t be blamed for this disaster, that the system was at fault. Roosevelt’s New Deal was designed to save capitalism from itself. Regulations were enacted to reduce its abuses. Programs such as the WPA and the CCC allowed the destitute to survive instead of being driven to demand revolutionary change. The Republicans have been busy for the last 90 years trying to break the New Deal. The soaring stock market indicates the conviction that the crony capitalists have won. They have stacked the Supreme Court with federalist judges, are busy deregulating and have staffed the cabinet with millionaires and generals used to following orders. Secure in the belief that their wealth and power will insulate them from environmental collapse, they care little for the planet and its inhabitants.

Our two-party system, responding to that portion of the public that cares more about perceived prosperity than democracy and the corporate sectors demand for growth, has sold out. The less control of our lives we have, the more we cling to freedom’s slogans and symbols such as the flag. Ignoring the sports industry’s cynical exploitation of patriotism provided by musicians busy celebrating their virtuosity rather than faithfully presenting the music. A much more disturbing spectacle is provided by the most divisive president, hypocritically pleading for unity in the wake of Las Vegas.

This is insanity. Will we accept such idiocy as the new normal? Will we continue to deny the existence of class warfare?

John Gibson

Owatonna