People from every country on the planet share similar basic biological and psychological needs and all but one have discovered the quickest way not to efficiently attain them. The life challenges in Guam are no different than those of Angola, Germany, Japan or any other country where human life abounds. However, in the course of history one country has seemingly eclipsed the others in its worldly contribution and wellness of its people. This, of course, is United States of America.
Oddly enough American citizens are not brighter, faster, smarter, or superior in any way than the inhabitants of any other country yet have continually outdone them in virtually every field of human endeavor. How can this be? If there is no evolutionary edge or divinely bequeathed benefit for Americans why have we consistently been the leaders of, well, everything? I know what you’re thinking…it’s because we’re so damned cute! While on the surface that’s a very good guess it is, alas, not right. The locomotive we’re searching for here is ‘Capitalism.’ Yes, good old American capitalism which has taken a pretty good beating of late from virtually every other place that doesn’t employ its massive power and even from within our own ranks. Fair to say that the latter from half of the 20th century up to and including today has been a free ride resting on the laurels of more pristine and unadulterated capitalism. As ever, the government’s desire to separate you from your wallet knows no bounds and has severely curtailed the innovation with which an efficient marketplace works.
Taxation and tax manipulation put the squeeze on modern business to the point where it’s suddenly more efficient to outsource (this is code-speak for letting someone else handle the poop on the living room floor) services to foreign shores. Many operations have built entire manufacturing plants and offices overseas where regulations do not cut off air supply and the owners (stockholders) can look forward to income. Foreign governments welcome the business influx as it provides jobs and fuels the economy and therefore don’t harbor the apparent ill will the US government does towards its bread and butter. Domestically the king of the four letter words isn’t golf, it’s OSHA, acronym aside. Ask any company owner who has to deal with these self-important governmental hacks from the innocently named Occupational Safety & Health Administration. The financial burden to businesses from this unnecessary federal behemoth can be crippling. Its rules are arcane at best and can shut an entire company down for not having a poster posted prominently or an exit sign light bulb out. Cost of compliance in this area and tens of others including the mandatory FICA, SS tax, impact fees, fines, permits, business licenses, inventory tax, worker’s compensation, maternity leave, property taxes, ad nauseum would make any entity striving for solvency head for greener pastures.
Perhaps the anti-capitalists have won the war through incrementalism or we’re in a new phase of development where mediocrity is rewarded and politically incorrect innovation punished. Either way an 800 pound federal gorilla now stifles competition in the workplace, forces companies out of business or out of the country, and gobbles up money so quickly that it hasn’t even been earned to be taxed yet. (See the National Debt) This from the greatest country the world has ever known so brilliantly forged in capitalistic ideology. Our beloved America’s finest days are sadly behind her but take heart, we can now safely join the rest of the world mid-song in Kumbaya.
