The following is a letter that appeared in the Richmond Times Dispatch on April 16, 2005. What follows is a response written by me that was published on May 1, 2005. Editor, Times Dispatch: A recent Editorial Page cartoon by Wayne Stayskal depicts a "City Dump" truck hauling off the tablets of the Ten Commandments. This is obviously a metaphor for the public "trashing" of deeply held private religious values. Without understanding American values and history, the metaphor is tragically misleading. The democratic value of individual rights in the public realm and the values of private religious faith have long lived side by side. If not always in total agreement, at least they were tolerant of each other, realizing their common and mutually supportive values (e.g., freedom to worship, justice that doesn't discriminate against certain faiths, liberty to believe and act according to one's own will, and equality under the law). Unfortunately, these values common to both our public and private realms, such as civility, cooperation, equal opportunity, and the ethical treatment of all, recently have proved a weak match against the cruel, self-serving values of what Pope John Paul II called "unbridled, savage capitalism." Capitalism, when allowed to become "savage," trashes the esteemed values both of our democratic public and private lives. When left unbridled, capitalism gives rise to greed and the need to gain ever more by any means necessary, at the expense and impoverishment of others and of our own spirits. Moreover, it corrupts government decision-making, which destroys the people's faith in our ability to govern ourselves. Can we, together, as a democratic people, finally apprehend that which is really hijacking our values, or will we continue to blame and target each other -- or even democracy itself? J. Fay Kelle. richmond. ************************************************************************************************** In her letter, J. Fay Kelle supports individual rights by correctly stating that people should have the “liberty to believe and act according to one’s own will”. However, she then immediately contradicts herself by supporting the Pope’s belief that unbridled capitalism is “savage”. On the contrary, unbridled “laissez-faire” capitalism (free from government interference) fits our founders’ beliefs in individual rights and the liberty to act according to our will. The Pope, on the other hand, believed that individuals did not own their lives. He believed that individuals exist only to serve others, which is why he was so revered by Fidel Castro. True unbridled capitalism means that men are free to act in their rational self-interest to trade the products or ideas that are the fruits of their reasoning minds, and no man may be sacrificed to another. Our founders believed that government should exist only to prevent fraud or force among men. Unfortunately, our current mixed system of freedom and multiple government controls leaves corporations with no choice but to lobby the government for favors in order to keep their property and to stay in existence. If Ms. Kelle is a true supporter of the “esteemed values” of individual liberty, she must also accept unbridled capitalism as the ultimate system. -Bob Murphy. Richmond.