BUSINESS LAW 101 / Political Theories
By Albert L. Kelley
For the last several months, we have watched the political rhetoric fly between candidates on the state and national level. Even though politics and business are often interrelated, I have tried to keep politics out of this column. However, as we watch the final recounts, I want to address a political issue. For the last few years some of my Republican friends have said that while we live in a Capitalist society, they feel the Democrats want the United States to be a socialist country. At the same time, some of my Democrat friends say that while we live in a Democracy, they feel the Republicans want a fascist system. Who is right? Both and neither. American society cannot be defined by a single word. Our Country is a mix of many political systems and that may be why it works so well.
While our middle school social studies teachers kept saying America was a Democracy, we really are not. In a Democracy, the people vote on everything. That is an unwieldy system and not really possible. What we really have is a Republic, where we elect others to make those decisions for us-to be our representatives. The key difference is that in a republic, the rights of the minority are protected. Our representatives do not have unfettered authority. They are limited by our Constitution and cannot remove our Constitutional Rights. This protection does not exist in a truly democratic society.
But what about capitalism? As a rule, we do have a strong capitalist system. But it is not strictly capitalist. We actually have a mixture of Capitalism and Socialism. While industry is primarily run by the market, it is not a pure market. Large corporations succeed based on government contracts and occasionally government bailouts. And unlike a pure capitalist system, many public benefit programs are based on socialism. Our police and fire departments are paid for by our taxes. These are not agencies that should be controlled by the market. The protections for our lives and our homes should not be controlled by our ability to pay for them. The same is true for our highways, our public schools and our military. Yes, our military is considered a socialist program.
What about fascism? While some of the comments we hear today are clearly aligned with fascists policies, the aspects of fascism in our system as a whole are minimal. Fascism is a political theory that seeks a national economic self sufficiency. It also incorporates protectionist policies for corporations. These are aspects that we do see building up more in today’s world. It is a political theory based on fear and anger which is becoming more prevalent in American society.
But let’s not limit our review to these policies. What about a dictatorship? The President has the ability to issue executive orders on many issues. These are not approved by Congress and simply allows the President to force through certain laws at his discretion.
Two systems we thankfully don’t see in American policies are Communism and Totalitarianism. These are the extreme left and right wing policies that are truly incompatible and unacceptable.
The point to be made is that this Country is too diverse to be pigeonholed into one political theory. As a people we need to understand that our government is a combination of several theories that work together to make us the strong nation we are.
Al Kelley is a Florida business law attorney located in Key West and previously taught business law, personnel law and labor law at St. Leo University. He is also the author of four law books: (“Basics of Business Law” “Basics of Florida’s Small Claims Court”, “Basics of Florida’s Landlord/Tenant Law” and “Basics of Starting a Florida Business” (Absolutely Amazing e-Books)). This article is being offered as a public service and is not intended to provide specific legal advice. If you have any questions about legal issues, you should confer with a licensed Florida attorney.
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