Introduction
In 1995, my father bought a home for $45,000 and sold it six years later for $150,000. That same property is now worth even more. In 2020, my father-in-law bought a modest house for $275,000. Today, just five years later, it is valued at over $600,000.
Here is the truth: in 1995, a $275,000 home was reserved for doctors, lawyers, and executives. Today, plumbers, teachers, and factory workers are forced into the same market. Wages remain stagnant, the federal minimum wage has been frozen at $7.25 since 2009, and the cost of living, healthcare, and education continue to rise.
We are living at the brink of a system built to collapse. Unless we confront the root cause—the concentration of wealth without reinvestment—the coming economic breakdown may dwarf the Great Depression. Understanding the implications of these factors is crucial for our approach to economics.
The Myth of Communism and the Lie of Trickle-Down
For decades, the West pointed to East Germany as evidence that communism failed. But the truth was more complex. West Germany flourished with Marshall Plan aid, while East Germany carried the weight of Soviet reparations. Yet propaganda simplified the lesson to: capitalism works, socialism fails.
America had its own propaganda: trickle-down economics. In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan promised that wealth concentrated at the top would cascade down to workers. Forty years later, the results are undeniable: record inequality, stagnant wages, and corporations thriving at the expense of society.
Ironically, the greatest period of U.S. prosperity—also known as the Golden Age of Capitalism (1945–1973)—thrived not on trickle-down economics. It was driven by strong unions, higher corporate taxes, and reinvestment in the middle class. Beginning with Nixon, America pivoted to corporate and stock market welfare. Workers were left behind.
Why Socialism Must Come From Companies, Not Government
Government’s role is to ensure justice, fairness, and protection of freedoms—not to micromanage the economy. If socialism means shared responsibility, then it must begin where wealth is generated: inside companies.
Corporations exist because of public infrastructure, educated workers, and healthy citizens. Yet many corporations today extract from society while reinvesting only in shareholders. This imbalance erodes resilience. Workers sink into debt while executives hoard millions.
This is where Resilient Economics begins. A sustainable system requires companies to reinvest profits into:
- Living wages
- Healthcare
- Education
- Infrastructure
This is not charity—it is enlightened self-interest. Without reinvestment, the workforce collapses. Without the workforce, profits collapse.
The Screw, the Leak, and the $700 Lesson
I once saw an employee throw away a screw. When I asked why, the answer was simple: “It’s not worth much, and I don’t get paid enough to care.”
One screw may cost a penny, but when 100 workers throw one away each day, an entire salary is wasted. Worse, if one missing screw halts production of a $700 product, that penny becomes a $700 loss.
This is the unseen leak: small carelessness, multiplied by disconnection. Workers who feel no stake in profits become careless with the foundation of profit.
Now imagine a different model. Once a year, companies open their books and show employees how their raises connect directly to profit margins. Suddenly, every screw matters. Every detail is protected. Every worker becomes a guardian of resilience because prosperity is shared.
Short-Term Greed vs. Long-Term Sustainability
Too many companies today pursue short-term profit by cutting corners:
- Using harmful ingredients that sicken consumers.
- Designing planned obsolescence into products.
- Inflating executive pay while underpaying workers.
This is profit as trophy, not as seed.
A resilient company thinks generationally: How do we ensure the long-term health, trust, and purchasing power of our consumers? Sustainable products create sustainable profits. Sickened or exploited customers collapse the market. Healthy ones keep it alive.
Seconds to Midnight
Housing is unaffordable. Wages are frozen. Tariffs raise prices for consumers. Deportations shrink the workforce. If our economy were measured like the nuclear Doomsday Clock, we are seconds from midnight.
Collapse is not inevitable—but prevention requires honesty, integrity, and spirituality. This is the Trinity of Life applied to economics.
The Resilient Republic
In my vision as the Resilient Philosopher, the ideal system is a Resilient Republic:
- Government protects freedoms and fairness.
- Companies reinvest in workers and infrastructure.
- Citizens are empowered, not enslaved, by wages, debt, or scarcity.
This is not capitalism or socialism—it is Resilient Economics, a system where prosperity circulates rather than concentrates.
Conclusion: Servant Leadership in Economics
A CEO who takes $30 million in bonuses while workers cannot afford healthcare creates a culture where screws are wasted and leaks ignored. But a CEO who reinvests in people builds a culture where every screw is valued, every leak is sealed, and every worker is vigilant.
Leadership must be service. Profit must be reinvestment. Resilience must be shared. Otherwise, our society collapses under the weight of imbalance.
The choice is clear: keep pretending trickle-down works—or embrace Resilient Economics, where leadership serves, wealth circulates, and the economy endures.
Author & Resources
Written by D. Leon Dantes – Chief Creative Executive of Vision LEON LLC, author of Leadership Lessons from the Edge of Mental Health, Mastering the Self: The Resilient Mind Vol. 2, and The Resilient Philosopher: The Prism of Reality.
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References
Core-Econ. (2017). The economy: Economics for a changing world (Beta ed., Unit 17). London: CORE Project.
Harvard Business Review. (2016). Profit sharing boosts employee productivity and satisfaction. Harvard Business Review, 94(12), 14–16.
National Bureau of Economic Research. (1993). Profit sharing and productivity (Working Paper No. 4542). Cambridge, MA: NBER.
Panitch, L. (2010). The end of the Golden Age? Socialist Register, 47, 1–18.
U.S. Department of Labor. (n.d.). History of federal minimum wage rates under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 1938–2009. Washington, DC: Wage and Hour Division.
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