To The Reader’s Forum:

In my opinion the idea of America — equal opportunity for all — is at stake in the upcoming elections. This idea takes shape in many contexts. In the context of economics, there has been a growing trend in our politics that replaces Adam Smith’s concept of self-interest guided by the “invisible hand” of “moral sentiments” with exclusionary selfishness.

If Adam Smith were alive today he would agree that our economy should work for our mutual self-interest, not for some of us but for all of us. This ideal has driven not only the hardest working but also some of the smartest people to our shores. It gave us a “competitive advantage” over other nations of the world.

Our widening income gap combined with the nativist movement in American politics today will not make America great. It will do just the opposite.

Today’s socioeconomic policies are allowing what gave us a competitive advantage to erode and, with it, American “exceptionalism.” An arrogant, unwelcoming, economically polarized America is an America inundated with “fake patriotism,” an America that values itself for its own sake, not for the worth that its spirited, diverse population created for all of us over the past century.

If we lose what was once our competitive advantage we lose our greatest resource — ourselves. Capitalism may have been the engine that has moved us forward but our people are the fuel that have made it run. We must never forget this. If we do, we will not only lose the “idea of America” that has made us who we are but also what we are capable of becoming.

Maurice F. Baggiano, J.D.

Jamestown