Man of Few Words       

   Considering America's love/hate relationship with capitalism, we thought of a German economics professor for an unbiased perspective. During a recent Views By the Sea radio hour, we called professor Johannes Fastenachrichten, in Munich. 

   He studied American policy for his Make Germany Great Again course at the university. We finally reached him after Munich's Oktoberfest celebration ended. Our conversation follows:

Good morning, sir. If it's okay, I'll just call you "professor." 

          Guten morgen, Jimmy

Yes, well, I'm sure you had a fine time at the folk festival. 

          ja

I suppose you enjoyed sauerbraten, schnitzel, strudel and bratwurst...

          ja ja ja ... bratwurst? nein 

Well, let's get down to business. You know, professor, we have politicians in America promoting socialism, and we value your opinion on this subject. 
Let me pose this: In the beginning, God created two people. Right? 

          ja

And that was neither capitalism nor socialism. God provided.

          ja

Now, suppose God made seven billion people all over the earth in a single day. 
Would they be wealthy on day one?

          nein 

I agree. Because wealth doesn't appear out of thin air. Isn't that so?

          ja 

Now, if those people were free to discover, explore, invent, create, build, share, cooperate and so forth, they would create wealth. Yes?

          ja 

But if they were highly regulated by their governments, unable to flourish, and highly taxed, there wouldn't be nearly as much wealth, and the poorest would suffer most.

          ja ... kaputt! 

Professor, we appreciate your perspective. Perhaps some other time we can join you in Munich for Oktoberfest. Oom-pah-pah! 

          Auf wiedersehen, Jimmy

😎