City Council member: I understand why millennials don’t like capitalism

There’s good reason to distrust capitalism

The writer is a Charlotte City Council member.

As millennials were growing up during the great recession, their parents were losing jobs due to bad decisions by corporations behaving greedily. When no one was held responsible for the banking crisis, while millions suffered, perhaps we adults inadvertently taught them that capitalism is an economic system that protects big corporations.

Capitalism is the best system to allow people to reach their full potential. But until it also proves that it will hold people and institutions accountable for gross corporate injustice, more people, not just millennials, might prefer a system that ensures them health insurance, an education, clean water and more predictable, if not more, take-home pay.

Where’s the ‘middle ground’ capitalism?

Frank Dowd suggests that misguided young people, confronted with a choice between capitalism and socialism, should choose the former and pull themselves up by their bootstraps – a sentiment much like Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) saying if you want better health care, get a better job. If it were that simple, and the playing field were level, I’m sure millennials could get on board with Dowd’s “hard work and free enterprise.” Blame the parents? More to the point in today’s diverse society would be finding equitable middle ground between Gordon Gecko capitalism and lunatic fringe socialism.

Here’s the real role of the Electoral College

No, the Electoral College is not failing, and it was not established primarily to prevent foreign influence in elections. It was designed to prevent population centers from controlling presidential elections, to give less populated states a voice, and it’s accomplishing that. The framers knew what they were doing. The Electoral College must never be mucked with.

Don’t minimize what Trump Jr. did

Is it any wonder Walter Shaub, director of the Office of Government Ethics who worked under both George W. Bush and Barack Obama, resigned after repeated run-ins with the Trump administration about what is and is not ethical?

Congress, work on real problems

Seemingly since Day 1 of the Trump presidency, we have read news stories about Russia’s possible intervention in our country’s presidential election. The media’s continued obsession with this topic is puzzling since, as Charles Krauthammer correctly stated in Saturday’s column, “There is no statute against helping a foreign hostile power meddle in an American election.”

Our nation has a whole host of important problems. And what has Congress done these past several months? Held hearings about Russia.

I would urge citizens to write to elected officials from both parties and inform them of our displeasure with their “fiddling while Rome burns.”

Too close for comfort on healthcare

It really amazes me that two right-wing senators are the main reason the latest Republican abomination of a health care bill was defeated. Then Senator Mitch McConnell wanted to repeal the Affordable Care Act and give Republicans two more years to come up with an alternative. Seven years wasn’t enough?! It’s time for the American people to have a larger voice than McConnell.

This story was originally published July 18, 2017 at 5:57 PM with the headline "City Council member: I understand why millennials don’t like capitalism."