It was on this day in 1901 that Annie Edson Taylor became the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel, and, significantly, to survive.
It was her sixty-third birthday.
A long time widow whose only child died in infancy, she worked mostly as a teacher, although she tried her hand at a number of enterprises, although none with great success. Facing old age and penury, and desperately wanting to avoid the Poorhouse, she took this gamble hoping it would lead to a steady living. It didn’t work out well, and she was forced to turn her hand to various other projects to avoid that fate she feared most. She ended her years posing for photographs with tourists, dying at 82.
I find myself thinking of Annie, and our human condition, how fragile life is, and what we can be forced to turn our hands to in order to survive. Her desperation led to a footnote place in our American folklore. And not a lot more.
For me in an era where the fragile social net that has been woven in the United States is fraying, even unraveling here and there, and let’s be honest, even what’s left would be completely taken apart were the circumstances of our political processes to take just a small wrong turn, I think of Annie’s desperation. I think of the rising inequities among us. And I think there has to be a better way.
The principal rival to Secretary Hillary Clinton’s bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders was asked if he were a “capitalist.” He didn’t hesitate. He said, “No.” Instead he offered that he is a “Democratic Socialist.” Now, on Social Media there are on occasion tests you can take to see how various presidential candidates line up with your views. I always come up closest to Senator Sanders, although only a couple of points off from Secretary Clinton. So, I’ve thought about this.
I have been a Democrat for all of my adult life. on many issues I’ve staked out a place a bit farther to the left than the mainstream of that party, but have always considered myself first and foremost a pragmatist. What that means has shifted over the years. In my youth I called myself a Fabian Socialist. But, at this point, four years older than Annie when she climbed into that barrel, I’ve come to different conclusions.
The first definition of socialism that pops up on Merriam Webster’s online dictionary defines socialism as “any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.” In fact the senator does not seem to mean that. Rather he is talking about the development and sustaining of a social welfare state, where the good of the many is seen as the purpose of government. One can argue around the edges of whether thinking public utilities should be collectively owned, but what Mr Sanders seems to actually mean has little to do with that government ownership of the means of production and distribution.
And I’ve come to realize that the senator’s rhetorical embrace of “socialism” is both inaccurate in as much as he doesn’t seem to actually believe in that primary definition, and that as a politician, while he is currently enjoying the warm embrace of many of my friends as a breath of fresh air and clarity, I see him as perhaps the only Democrat who would lose to whichever candidate currently striving for the Republican nomination prevails into the General. Me, I’m going with the person that I agree with nearly as much as the other, but who actually almost certainly will win that General Election.
But, this meditation has me most of all thinking of the social contract, of the point of government. And what it is I really want to support.
I personally feel the main point of government is to even the playing field so everyone gets a fair start, and then, beyond that when people stumble for whatever reason, the fall isn’t into the abyss. In practice this means as a human right people should all have access to a free and high quality education as far as their talents can take them, that everyone should have access to some pretty solid baseline of health care, and that everyone has access to a pension in their older years, or, earlier based on need, that allows dignity throughout their lives. There are other things, of course. I think we also need a political center strong enough to deal with other forms of national crisis ranging from war and peace to the looming threats of climate change.
However, I have no belief in command economies. Rather I see capitalism, while profoundly shadowed, profoundly shadowed, is also an amazing engine of economic advance. Of the various economic theories put forth it seems the only one people really actually want. People like the idea of enterprise, of investing time and energy, and making a profit. And in practice capitalism is past dangerous. It needs to be seriously watched for several inclinations that quickly become moral evils. The first is an inclination to monopoly, the consolidation of power. The second is what people will do for short term profit, opening avenues to perfidy that seems to know no limit. But, properly watched, and its excesses brought under control through meaningful regulation, it becomes the engine that supports a proper welfare state. Which is what I care about.
Apparently there are names for this view of the social contract, although the principal philosophical term appears to be “Social Market Economy.” A bit of a mouthful. Another term that seems to basically mean the same thing is “Rhine Capitalism.” This is what when we dig past Senator Sanders’ romantic embrace of the term socialism, he really means. I think it is basically what Secretary Clinton believes.
And, it is what I believe. Capitalism in service of the people, in service of a culture where people are educated, healthy, and cared for when they’re old or unable to care for themselves. That’s what I believe in.
I look to a country where someone rides over Niagara Falls because they’re foolish and want that footnote place in a history book, not because they see it as their only chance to not starve to death. And I think a conscious embrace and advocacy of a social market economy, Rhine Capitalism can get us there.
My feeling is that those of us who believe in this should get over whatever lingering romance we might have with the term socialism. What we’re actually advocating is Rhine Capitalism, is a social market economy.
Clarity of language. Clarity of purpose.
Use what it is that we are as human beings, both our positive and our less healthy inclinations.
Listen to the music.
Learn to play.
Two cents on a Saturday morning.
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