ThirstyFish

Now that the Pope Francis fever is over, what are Americans to do? Who is going to remind us that Capitalism without restraint is "the dung of the devil" and a "subtle dictatorship"? We, here in America, suffer from short-memory.

In a 1933 letter, Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote: "I had a nice talk with Jack Morgan [i.e., banker J.P. Morgan, Jr.] the other day and he seemed more worried about [Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Rexford] Tugwell's speech than about anything else, especially when Tugwell said, 'From now on property rights and financial rights will be subordinated to human rights.' ... The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the larger centers has owned the Government ever since the days of Andrew Jackson ... The country is going through a repetition of Jackson's fight with the Bank of the United Stated - only on a far bigger and broader basis".

FDR actually did something about it. Namely The New Deal. He even bragged about saving Capitalism. But in the year 2015, it's business as usual. From Bernie Sanders to Hillary Clinton, Democratic politicians are talking about restraining Capitalism, but without any way of backing it up. Talk is cheap. You might remember that Barack Obama spoke about the same things before he got elected. All politicians are already owned by corporations and the super-rich...