We’re number one — in incarceration

Dear Editor, America is the land of the incarcerated. With the highest percentage of its citizens in jail, our country is number one when it comes to being behind bars.

The only group spared prison garb are the filthy rich, the politicians, the hedge fund managers, the chief executive officers and their fat bankers. That’s because the wealthy elite make the laws and choose the judges. Supreme Court rulings like “Citizens United” have made it virtually impossible to lock up anyone in the upper reaches of our proud kleptocracy.

There is no shortage of wellheeled grifters.

The corrupt leaders of both New York state political parties have been convicted, only to be set free by the courts.

Nationally, the stench is even more overwhelming. Our federal agencies are now run by the polluters, the banksters, and the criminally connected. We are all desperate to “drain the swamp,” but where do we start in a rigged system?

The system, of course, is latestage capitalism. It has created the yawning gap between the rich and poor, with perpetual tax giveaways to the billionaires. It has led to the endless U.S. wars in the rest of the world, with $5.6 trillion spent on invasions and occupations since 2000. Capitalism is even the driving force behind global warming, with fossil fuel profits put before our very survival.

Surveys of 20- to 35-year-olds show they have a higher opinion of socialism than capitalism. Perhaps it’s time for the rest of us to consider a post-capitalist society.

Fred Nagel Rhinebeck, N.Y.