ortonA decent society can’t promise that nobody will suffer. It decides which forms of preventable suffering it will no longer accept. 

Elections are nearing. Sides are being taken, battle lines drawn, and the usual fearmongering is warming up. We are told to fear socialism, capitalism, nationalism, globalism and every other ism available. We are told to fear the other side, fear the other people and fear losing quickly what we may already be losing slowly. 

Perhaps we could step away from the isms long enough to ask a more useful question: What are the minimum conditions Americans should reasonably expect from a decent society? 

Our Declaration of Independence expresses the American ideal of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It does not guarantee happiness, wealth or equal outcomes. It promises the liberty to pursue them. 

As science advanced and the centuries passed, government became increasingly capable of helping people make that pursuit meaningful. Public education created opportunity. Public health prevented disease and extended lives. Police and courts provided security. Roads, sanitation and infrastructure allowed commerce to flourish. Capitalism supplied the innovation, investment and productive energy that built much of modern America. 

But capitalism has limits. 

Capitalism, without constraints, is simply the ism of........

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