by Linda Schreiber

Created on: April 25, 2008

What do you think of selfish politics? I hear it has been very popular these last few decades. For instance one of America's most popular authors, Ayn Rand, write a book about the virtue of selfishness. Alan Greenspan, who recently retired as head of the Federal Reserve, was one of her ardent admirers and friends. By her urgings he became an adviser to Nixon and promoted her ideas of laissez-faire capitalism and "rational selfishness." These policies inevitably led the U.S. to deregulation, inflation and the kind of corruption that results from the rule of valueless and amoral economics.

The rule of the money god comes with no call to higher ethics and values; how far we have fallen. The whole world is looking at what America is doing in the name of laissez-faire, and we don't look so good to them anymore.

Laissez-faire capitalism is almost a mantra to political right wing proponents because it excuses their abdication of democratic principles. And selfishness, well, most people who have values know that selfish people are just not with it. Selfish people are crude, greedy and unconscious of the human story of community and shared values.

Laissez-faire is a French word meaning let things alone'. This is an Old Europe idea that government should stay out of the way of business. It is surprising that since this ancient idea has caused so much trouble over the years, some old cronies still think it is a viable policy.

Those greedy old cronies will do anything to get out of having to pay taxes. How can anyone in their right mind expect to live in a civil society and not pay taxes? But then, these rich old cronies have lost it anyway, so what can you expect? What do they care about young families without health care and old folks without Social Security and pensions? I keep hoping that some day they will all die off and leave us alone so we can get back to caring for one another.

While industry has grown, laissez-faire policies have led to many abuses. Labor and the environment have been exploited and so have children! Big business continually scheme to control production and prices for their own benefit. They seek to eliminate competition and created monopolies and cartels. I pity the poor small business persons anymore who try to compete against these goliath corporations. Their corporate lawyers are continually looking for ways to sue any small businesses that get in their way, including small towns.

Now since a basic tenet of the laissez-faire system is to increase

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