Narrative 1

Once upon a time people lived in societies that were unequal and oppressive, where the rich got richer and the poor got exploited. Chattel slavery, child labor, economic inequality, racism, sexism and discriminations of all types abounded until the liberal tradition of fairness, justice, care and equality brought about a free and fair society. And now conservatives want to turn back the clock in the name of greed and God.

Narrative 2

Once upon a time people lived in societies that embraced values and tradition, where people took personal responsibility, worked hard, enjoyed the fruits of their labor and through charity helped those in need. Marriage, family, faith, honor, loyalty, sanctity, and respect for authority and the rule of law brought about a free and fair society. But then liberals came along and destroyed everything in the name of “progress” and utopian social engineering.

(No googling before you answer)

Neither, the closest I'd come is that it was and is a mix of the naratives. "progressives" can be just as blinkered by their own ideologies as anyone else and hve brought some good changes while atnthe same time creating new injustice.

Human beings were and remain a mixed bag, some will be thoughtful and actbwith decency, others will act out of greed or from blinkered ideology.

R0bert

Well, I'm with Robert on this one.

Once upon a time, 1977 in fact, as a new worker I was told by most people, son, if you work hard, you will reap the rewards Shen you retire.

Then came along things like family assistance, and other forms of prop up welfare, aimed at bridging the gap between the rich and poor.

Don't get me wrong, it would have been great to all of a sudden able to have a family, knowing you can't actually afford to.

Meanwhile, my wife and I were denied any benefits for our kids, as we earned too much.

So, off we go and introduce these schemes, only, there was one problem looming, how on earth are we going to pay for it.

The answer was quite simple, that being to take from The rich and give to the poor.

So, then came the likes of negative gearing, family trusts, unit trusts, in fact, many entities and structures, as the rich all of a sudden realized that if they too could get get rid of some of their incomes, who knows, perhaps they could get some entitlements.

You see, as long as people are penalized for being successful, you will always have resentment within the ranks.

Now days, we go off and fight other countries wars and, we open our boarders to tens of thousands of illegal arrivals.

All funded by the good old tax payer, who, by the way, has collapsed under the additional load, resulting in not only our taxes being spent, but our future taxes in the form of billions borrowed.

How clever are we!

What a shame.

Dear Steven,

I agree with RObert on this as well.
Humans are indeed a "mixed bag."

It would be great if we could live by the "golden rule."
Otherwise known as "the mean," or moderation in all things.

Some would have us return to a mythical world of the
noble savage in an idealist arcadian setting. While
others tell us that myopic, greed-is-good, and consume,
consume, consume where the most deserving will win.

Apparently these are the only two routes to happiness?
That they are diametrically opposed leads to potentially
nasty conflicts over how to live our lives.

And neither recognise ecological, social and economic reality.

Only the idea of sustainable development based on the golden
rule, the mean, and a steady-state economy offer us hope.

Yep, I agree with RObert as well.

Steven did not goggle.
Looked this morning wanted to post that I agreed with both.
Well the self interest band greed parts.
And thought that was bit shallow so gave it more thought.
First the lost beliefs, any God, took away some control basic and extreme, we still need that if not the belief.
Extreme capitalism is intent on killing the goose that lays the eggs.
Greed is way out in front.
If we you and I could look in to the future say 200 years? we may find capitalism, but just for some, unless we find a way to restore accountability.