GENIE: He's out of the bottle

Yep, before we let the genie get completely out of the bottle, bolt the windows, bar the doors and pray as never before. We thought we could just crack the lid and let our genie do its wonders while keeping it under control. We thought we could make him our servant. We were wrong; now we are his servants — and he’s a brutal taskmaster.

Our genie is an admixture of avarice, greed, lust and pride. Yes, four of the Seven Deadly Sins, and they are four of the most powerful forces within the human species. We call our genie “capitalism.” It’s out of the bottle, out of control and rabid.

Let’s compare our genie to a nuclear reactor. Under control, it can produce much valuable energy that is beneficial for human use. An out-of-control reactor can produce a meltdown or explosion. Our nuclear reactor must be regulated and controlled. Capitalism is no different. We must never allow the fissionable material of avarice, greed, lust and pride to become concentrated, lest we loose a social, economic and political explosion. When monopolistic capitalism explodes, there is no way to protect yourself from its deadly fallout.

JIM ROWE

Coeur d’Alene