What would it take before American society would approximate something that was half way decent? I'm not suggesting anything in this entry that would add to it only some institutions which, if taken away, would make the society better without losing anything essential to its functioning. I would suggest these three institutions: the stock market, advertising and lobbying. I will proceed to show how the elimination of these institutions will improve the society without losing any essential functions.
First the stock market. What is it's basic purpose? To allow someone to raise money in order to start a company, right? Well it doesn't do that any more. That purpose has been superseded by venture capital which is given to a company in exchange for ownership rights the way the stock market is supposed to work. By the time of an IPO (Initial Public Offering) the company is already successful. Otherwise there would be no IPO. So what does the IPO do? It makes the owners of the company fabulously wealthy. That's it's main purpose. There is also an infusion of money into the company which, however, could be raised by other means such as floating bonds or borrowing from the bank. If IPOs were eliminated companies could function just find. They could borrow money instead of selling equity. CEOs and other corporate founders would not become instant billionaires, but they still would be on the road to becoming wealthy so there would be plenty of incentive for them to continue what they're doing.
But wait, you say. The stock market provides a repository of value for pension funds and saving for old age. Yeah sure. Why then are so many pension funds in so much trouble? The stock market is basically a casino. It's not much different than betting your money in Las Vegas. People can lose everything as they did in the bust of 2000. So we all (except corporate founders) would be better off without it. So the stock market is redundant with respect to the legitimate functions it provides.
Secondly, advertising's original function was to inform people as to products and services that are available. At this point there's no need for that. Any information about any product or service can be found on the internet complete with product manuals, photos etc. Comparison shopping sites will even find you the best price and it's a cinch to order and take delivery. So there's no need for advertising with it's negative consequence of polluting the airwaves and TV screens with useless garbage. It's so offensive that people are starting to gladly pay for services such as satellite radio and premium TV channels on which there is no advertising. It's a total insult to people's intelligence. Billions of dollars are wasted trying to get people to buy some company's product instead of letting people be proactive and take the initiative in finding and buying their own products. Here is where the educational system could be of some value: educating people to be good consumers which would mean the following. Resist advertising and do your own research. The information is freely available. Make an informed decision.
Thirdly, lobbying is one of the worst systems devised by mankind. It's legalized corruption and bribery. It guarantees that the society will be run by the rich and powerful and for the rich and powerful. It subverts democracy. Society becomes a combination of a plutocracy and a kleptocracy. The distinctions of whether something is a quid pro quo or legal lobbying are ridiculous. American society would be much more democratic if this institution were eliminated and nothing would be lost Congressmen would just have to do more work. That's all. Instead of lobbyists writing the bills, they would have to write their own bills. We would all be better off.
