JESSE MURPHY: Cats and capitalism for six-year-olds

Our family is now the proud owner of a cat.

Personally, I've never cared much for felines. Not much against them, but the puffy, itchy eyes suggest an allergy.

But we are really looking forward to teaching the responsibility of care-taking to the kids.

As fast as time seems to go these days, I think it won't be long until the kids will be taking care of the wife and I, so we should probably start their occupational training now.

If we can teach them how to clean a litter box, put food and water in bowls and provide a few hours of entertainment every day, our golden years should be pretty enjoyable.

The boy and his Papa came up with the name Miz. Zou for the striped kitty (that's like Miss, but with a "z" instead of two "s'")

He wanted to name it Tiger, but the dynamic duo put their heads together with the result being a tribute to our family's beloved Missouri Tigers. All I could say was yes, yes and absolutely yes as I casted my vote at the family meeting to decide upon a name.

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Here is the kicker part of the week.

After school the boy, keep in mind he is only a kindergartner, asked me about capitalism.

"Dad, what is capitalism?" he asked out of left field as we ironically passed the Northwest baseball stadium. "Is it like the capital of money?"

This was one of the few times an innocent question has floored me.

I was really unsure how to respond.

My first thought was that a simple definition probably would suffice, so I gave it a shot.

I explained that capitalism is an economic model that means businesses are ran to make money for the owners.

And then it got real. He asked if everyone was "in capitalism."

The answer of no was followed with questions on what everyone else does, why don't they "do capitalism," and "I thought we were the best so why doesn't everyone do it?"

Enter the communist talk. I began the conversation with a disclaimer, as we do with many discussions concerning complex issues.

"Buddy, this is going to be very confusing," I said as he rolled his eyes as he always does when I start explanations with that phrase. "This is something I don't even really understand, but I'll tell you what I know."

I gave a brief description about the differences between capitalism and communism, but it wasn't good enough to satisfy him.

He had to keep pushing the issue.

By this time we were out of the car and at the office. So I was forced to look him in the eyes for the rest.

My mind was racing. How can I explain that capitalism is the better system when our country is $14 trillion in debt - most of it to a communist country?

I want the best for him and the girl, and a responsible parent can not say that living on our debt-based system is a great idea and that we should all get credit cards.

Acurate numbers are hard to come by, but from what I can tell, the average American has anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000 in credit card debt. That's not counting houses, cars and student loans.

It's sickening to see a market and consumer-driven society affect our youth.

They should be learning that we need to get away from borrowing money, and we need to stop spending money.

As a taxpayer, I'm to the point that I can't even think about our national debt without getting mad.

As a father and husband, I can say that the wife and I have no cards and are working on our student loans. I'm confident that we'll be able to use our social security checks to make the last few payments (sorry if that joke is in bad taste, but you have to admit it will be a reality for many).

Anyways, economic ideas are fantastic until greed gets involved. And guess what - we are humans, therefore we have a tendency to become greedy. The powers that be don't seem to care, in fact the current systems increase their power and line their pockets. In their minds, why change it? For shame world, for shame…

So my answer to the boy became simple.

Neither system is necessarily better than the other. They're just economic models. Economic models don't pay bills. Economic models don't put food in bellies, clothes on backs or roofs over heads.

But an idea can. Save, don't spend. Don't buy things with money you don't have. There used to be a time when you couldn't get anything unless you had the money for it at the time of purchase.

Youngsters probably won't remember the character in Popeye named Wimpy (Google it if you don't know).

"I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today," was his catch phrase.

Don't be like Wimpy. If you want a hamburger, get off your butt and work until you have the money to pay for it.

I'll close this one off with a quote from former President Jimmy Carter. I wasn't born when he said this and he was promptly shunned.

"Too many of us now tend to worship self indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but what one owns. This is not a message of happiness or reassurance, but it is the truth, and it is a warning."

Jesse Murphy is managing editor at the Maryville Daily Forum. He can be reached at

jmurphy@maryvilledailyforum.com