On Fusionist Conservatism
By Rob Jones

Taking up the editors challenge, here are a few thoughts about fusionist conservatism. First, what is capitalism? This has plagued encyclopedia publishers for decades. To begin with, there are laissez-faire and mercantile systems. Each of these allows for some degree of economic freedom.

What is economic freedom? It relates mostly to choices one is able to make about one's own financial business. Another aspect is property rights; owning your own home, land, or even the coffee you're having with breakfast.

Laissez-faire libertarianism reflects what I call the real property rights aspect of capitalism. It supports the ideas of individual responsibility and self-government. Historically, it's had it's bad days; giving rise to indentured servitude. Today's libertarians know these facts and are not apt to repeat the mistakes.

Mercantile economies aim to promote civil justice and respect for human life. The traditions of justice and law have made us prosperous and we must never forget that.

Civil Justice and Property Rights are great ideas that, when put together, raise the level of humanity as a whole. A respectful government protects the life, liberty, and property of it's citizenry. As capitalists of all flavors, we should examine the fusion of these principles.

What greater way to start than with the topic of employment systems? We can already agree that no one is interested in a return to the days of slavery or indentured servitude. But what is our constitutional authority to regulate the free market? What standard do we apply that does not infringe on property rights? The answer is in labor laws.

Starting in the 19th century, the economic equality bunch (that's my term for liberals, socialists, and their fellow kind) made strong pushes in Europe and America for regulations which would provide a supposedly better workplace; a safer workplace... a workplace that would face a judge if they gave a job to children. But teenagers today want cellphones, DVDs, girlfriends, movies and entertainment. What better way for them to have the luxuries they desire than by earning it themselves? We can infer from history that these strange laws came about as a result of the lack of proper civil justice. It was a time when people did not have equal rights. Times have changed for the better and we ought to at least keep up with those who came before us.

Clip out that single paragraph, and I look like a deregulationist. What I am actually advocating here is a proper set of standards in our civil law that will allow a return to the economic freedom enjoyed many decades ago. We can start now, or we can wait until young adults get mad and call us discriminatory.

There is a bigger picture though, my friends. You see, communists and capitalists have only one thing in common. We agree that modern hours-for-dollars employment is wrong! It's ranked just above indentured servitude on the list of things people would like to do for money. People do not want to work a job the duration of their adult life that rewards them simply based on the amount of time spent at work. While it's a good thing that our economy pays the great jobs more, it has left the door open for the creeping of economic-equality legislation. Workman's comp, minimum wage laws, overtime, unemployment, social security, welfare, and Medicaid have thrived under our system. The bad part is, the American public supports these policies and for the most part doesn't know how much it's hurting them.

I have a solution. Let us remember the first republicans who abolished slavery. Now mind you, nobody on our end of the political spectrum reviews this fact and then proceeds to curse government meddling in our financial business. Far from that, we accept the idea that the government must regulate unfair exploitative labor systems out of existence.

The day of hours-for-dollars employment is over. Welcome to the capitalist era. The idea that someone actually gets paid based on the amount of work they do is called commission. Contrarily, the idea that one gets paid based on the amount of time they serve is called detention. We use it in our prisons. No?

Businessmen, for lack of seeing how much money they are losing with hours-for-dollars, have bypassed the greatest pay-scale standard in the history of modern man. Commission employees are across the board more productive, innovative, and responsible. Why? Because if you pay people for their time, you are gonna get what you pay for. If you're in business, this is an error, because you want to pay for labor and be able to choose what portion of your profits are set aside for your workers. With a commissioned percentage, your sales staff will discover new ways to market your products.

Side note: waitresses and pizza delivery drivers get paid in tips & commission. On average, these people are far above the poverty line compared to the guy who gets paid the same whether he flips ten burgers or three hundred. They do not typically need as much supervision either (more savings for entrepeneurs).

A commissioned worker technically fits the criteria of a business-owner in that they create their own income. But rather than enjoying the benefits of the self-employed, employees get no tax relief whatsoever for what they spend on their jobs. Let us not discourage the worker-employee relationship, but help bring them together as business partners with mutual goals.

America needs a rejuvenation to the traditions and principles which have proven themselves to be in the best interest of the people. Let us move forward with economic fusionism before stone-age capitalism becomes a fossil.

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