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Wikipedia recently reported that the two most looked-up words in the English language were socialism and capitalism. Most Americans fear socialism more than the plague. But that is changing. Americans know that something is very wrong with the kind of capitalism we have been practicing. They know that the rich are getting richer and the poor, poorer at an astonishing rate. Socialism used to be a “dirty word” but now more and more, capitalism is being seen that way. People are beginning to wonder why we worship at the altar of capitalism to the point that we just accept recessions and depressions as though they are a necessary by-product of capitalism. The author does not buy that argument. This book makes a strong case for how certain aspects of socialism can be combined with capitalism to make a better economic system. Pure socialism doesn't work very well. And laissez faire capitalism doesn't work very well either. Laissez faire capitalism should be as dead as communism. Karl Marx and Fidel Castro did not understand the beneficial power of regulated greed and Herbert Hoover and George W. Bush did not understand the destructive power of unregulated greed. Pure socialism and capitalism are polar-opposite concepts. But to use a trite example, lemon juice and sugar are also polar opposites. However if they are “unified” just right, they make a delicious drink. This book explains how to unify capitalism with the right kind of socialism to create a better economy and “form a more perfect union.” If we don't do that, we could be headed towards some kind of a revolution!

Isn't it better to question capitalism without settling on it, than it is to settle on capitalism without questioning it? Lassez-faire capitalism has simply not "delivered the goods", metaphorically speaking. During the last eighty years the U.S. has experienced at least twenty years of a very bad economy in the periods between 1929-1942 and again from 2007-2014. That accounts for about twenty-five percent of the time, not including the numerous smaller recessions which have occured with some regularity. One could say that capitalism only works about seventy-five percent of the time. Since human nature has not changed significantly during these eighty years, blame for the economic downturns must not be laid at the feet of the people, but at the very foundation of the capitalist system and our government which tends to cherish unregulated capitalism. So if capitalism cannot consistently deliver stability within our economic system, then the Government must step in and deliver what the capitalists cannot seem to do. Americans need to stop thinking that capitalism is the ONLY way, and accepting that it naturally goes through cycles causing one painful recession after another. Would you accept a car or a refigerator that only worked seventy-five percent of the time? We worship at the altar of capitalism so much that without thinking we just shrug our shoulders and accept that recessions are just a natural part of capitalism. I DO NOT BUY THAT ARGUMENT. If we can go to the moon, don't tell me that we cannot come up with a better economic system to either prevent recessions or at least greatly ameliorate them.