He compares Europe's economic problems to a large bird that can never fully extend its wings because of the bars on its cage. Limitations created by cultural and political circumstances forestall attainment of inherent capabilities.

Incompatibility between unfulfilled potential and existing limitations also plagues America's current economic difficulties. Of course, the stricture preventing our bald eagle from soaring is quite different from the cage that imprisoned the pre-WWII European economy.

The forecast for our economy is, at best, uncertain. Combining the number of unemployed looking for work with those who have given up hope of ever finding a job, we probably have an actual unemployment rate of about 7 or 8 percent. That is an uncomfortable margin. The combined debt structures -- national debt, balance of trade deficit, personal credit card loans, bank loans, home loans, etc. -- is probably close to 20 trillion dollars. That's a scary figure. The first surplus rebate handed out by the Bush administration did little to stimulate the economy. The present tax cut and rebate will most likely do equally little to stimulate a sluggish economy.

The constant rise of the Euro against the dollar gives us little reason for optimism about our economic situation.

Though basic human needs vary little over time, our history is one of boom and bust, plenty and want, superabundance and dire needs. What bars of the cage prevent our eagle from flying freely? Could it be that the much-vaunted system of capitalism contains seeds that not only create economic havoc but weaken and even potentially destroy Constitutional governance? Could it be that representative, republican government and capitalism are totally incompatible systems?

History provides an interesting clue. The German tycoons of the pre-Hitler era, Fritz Thyssen, the Krupps, Von Ribbentrop, Hjalmar Schacht were not exactly enamored with the Weimar Republic. When Hitler began to stir, these representative of Germany's fiscal might were among his earliest and strongest supporters. Henry Ford and other American tycoons were also sympathetic to Hitler's ideas.

America's big industrialists were and are not particularly ardent fans of any administration seeking to bring a sense of economic equity and social fairness to the ballgame. Why?

The genius of our government lies in its systems of checks and balances. No one branch's power can go unchecked. If the executive office gets too big for its britches, the legislative and judicial branches can whittle the executive down to size. The same concept works across the board. Of course, it only works as long as everyone is committed to the fundamental idea that all will prosper and do well as long as the Constitutional game plan is accepted wholeheartedly by all.

Freedom entails responsibilities -- else it degenerates in licentiousness.

In an earlier column, I wrote that Adam Smith's idea of capitalism is based on two concepts. The first postures that the only dynamic for capitalism is the appeal to the unrestricted self-interest of the businessman. No limitations or restrictions are to be imposed on this territorial imperative.

No checks and balances are tolerated. This one fact alone makes capitalism an adversary to Constitutional government.

Having been trained in moral philosophy, Smith might have had some second thoughts about promoting an economy totally based on disregard of all factors save self-interests. He came up with the rather ingenious idea. There is some force, Smith mused, that would turn all this selfishness into the common good. Not knowing what that force might be, he called it the "Unseen Hand."

Smith promotes an economy that essentially differs little from the unrestricted powers enjoyed by feudal lords. To rationalize this unmitigated license to piracy, Smith justifies his proposal endowing the most egocentric, licentious behavior with this mysterious paw, coming out of nowhere. Through some trick, like pulling rabbits out of a hat, this hand would turn rapacious behavior into some great good. Let's be honest with each other; throughout the history of capitalism, there "ain't been no hand, there."

To the extent that Smith rejects any motive other than self-interest to his economic theory, he and his capitalism stand in total opposition to any government based on a balance of powers.

A lot of personal negatives might be raised against FDR, JFK, and LBJ. However, the bottom line is they realized that the voracious appetite of the would-be Caesars of our society have to be restricted and curbed for the benefit of all. They wanted to level the playing field that had been totally devastated by the financial shenanigans of Smith's followers who concentrated only on their own selfishness in their fiscal amoral activities.

"What the hell," Smith's followers say to each other, "we'll rape the people and the invisible palpitating paw of the unseen god will make everything come out all right." Well, maybe they didn't say, "What the hell." They are all upstanding moral people, so maybe they said, "What the heck."

They echo the antisocial creed announced by Smith and enthusiastically endorsed by his disciple Thomas Malthus. Neither Saint wanted anything to do with the general welfare and the good of the people. Present-day alphas controlling our nation have proven to be their star pupils.

President Reagan was a great mouthpiece for the idea that social programs are somehow irresponsible, immoral, wasteful, and even sinful. Programs centering on assisting people and leveling the playing field were bad-mouthed. Of course, it was quite all right for the Savings and Loan folks to rip off the American public. Then these faultfinders of the government used tax dollars to help straighten out the mess created by Smith's insane idea about selfishness producing a viable civilization!

Yet, we constantly have it drummed into our ears that everything in our society must be privatized. One only has to look at the fiasco created by HMOs, privately run prisons, and the inhumane results of the privatization of water distribution in parts of Brazil and even Atlanta, GA.

Come on America, wake up to the wool that's being pulled over your eyes!

America's equivalent of the Krupps and Thyssens don't want a government representing the interests and the needs of the small people. The last thing in the world they want is representative government creating a more level playing field for all.

Messrs. Smith and Malthus do not want an economy of checks and balances. They want unbridled selfishness accepting only the unseen hand as the sole control over the voracious monetary appetite of the Caesars. They know very well that no such hand exists.

The capitalistic enterprise is essentially amoral. It uses the power of government to make the rich richer and effectively takes advantage of the disadvantaged. "Get government oversight off the backs of the Smith gang and untold benefits will trickle down to the peasants." Yeah! The most recent evidence of the inanity of this assumption reveals that, in reality, the hard earned dollars by the poor filter up to the rich in the form of rebates and tax concessions making the rich a grotesque parody of what it means to be humane.

Bottom line: while self-disciplined free enterprise ideologically may be the most beneficial economic system to sustain a democracy, the nature of human nature is now making a mockery of our economy.

Given the fact that the only concern of business is the bottom line and that the unseen hand will bring about equity and justice, business now pretty much controls legislatures. The process is moving full-speed ahead to eliminate all government controls and the unbridled market will continue to rape the people. In the worship of the mighty mammon, all apostates must be eliminated. At the command of Corpgreed, all will bow down and worship the unseen hand because the Popes and Evangelists of Capitalism know that his non-existing hand will not interfere with the agenda of greed.

Politically, the current usurpers of freedom are eliminating checks and balances in the government. With that calamity, representative government is coming to an end and destroys Constitutional rights.

Capitalism is no friend of the people! It destroys the Constitution and the Bill of Rights so a few vultures can strip clean the cadaver of the society that they are creating. The present Republican regime is doing a pretty good job of killing what little remains of the once proud dream.

With its latest triumph of allowing unlimited ownership of media outlets, the propaganda machine is in place touting Saints Smith and Malthus. We shall even hear more and more about the virtues of unrestrained business practices and how capitalism is everyone's friend and the mainstay of democracy.

Sieg Heil!