"How about socialism?" Anonymous asks.

Communism on the left is out. Monopolism on the right is out. What remains?

Before we answer, we have to think about ourselves as human beings.

For me the essential characteristics of my "humanness" is my capacity to, first, imagine what ought to be and then strive to make it what is. It is in my personal choosing of "oughtness" that I find the core of myself as a moral being. It is in both my willingness to take action and the action I take—or lack thereof—to make that "oughtness" the "isness" of my world, that I reveal my character.

The underlying biological basis of my self, my being—as in the biological basis of human society ... and I do believe in the evolving nature of the universe—leads me to also believe that existence precedes awareness. There is no overarching awareness that calls my existence into being. My existence—my biological existence—creates my awareness. This is a fact made most real to me by my taking female hormones to counter the effect of my male testosterone because of prostate cancer. My becoming a chemical eunuch has been revealing.

With these factors in mind, in what kind of community do I wish to participate?

I want to be in a community where there is reciprocal nurturing of the capacity to both choose and to carry out those choices. This, to me, is "the good life".

Explicit in the nature of such a community are both individual freedom and mutual respect for each other's freedom, as well as the understanding that we share in the struggle to enhance our capacity for engaging in the good life.

We must note that the community striving to achieve the good life requires security. This is true because such a community will produce wealth for its participants at an accelerated rate. We know this to be a fact from our own history. Other communities not yet at our stage of "enlightenment" will contend with us for a variety of reasons, but certainly the age-old drive for power and wealth (positional status on the mating fields) by testosterone driven men is enough to cause conflict from beyond our borders.

It is at this point in the discussion that we can come back to the issues of Capitalism vs. Socialism ... if there really are any ... other than jockeying for power from various vantage points.

But there is a nuts and bolts issue: Are choices made and accrued through the open market where people can choose what to buy or not buy, better than choices made through the ballot box where people can choose how to vote or not vote—or the other way around?

I believe we need a rational, realistic combination of both.

More to follow.