Let me explain capitalism to you. Success is determined by what people want. And people are struck by fads. If you catch a wave, you become wealthy beyond imagination. Sometimes hard work and intelligence play a role in success. Sometimes . . . they don't. Hard work and intelligence alone result in a life lived on the edge. Your job is always insecure, even if you work for the country's or the world's largest company. Downsizing, bubbles, shifts in the fads (goodbye typewriters hello pc) . . . all can sweep away your security. How could bad loans made to people who can't pay their mortgage wipe out ordinary Americans home values and destroy their ability to sell their homes and go to another place. Today the invention of a new software makes another obsolete and 100,000 lose their jobs.

Teddie Joe Neely sings the role of Jesus in Jesus Christ superstar. He has had a successful career in pop music / Broadway singing. He really has no training as a singer. He just sings like he sings. This morning I heard women talking about how his voice is just a beautiful as it was 30 years ago (he's 65 now), the narrator spoke of his high notes being as good as ever, and pregnant women apparently come to him back stage and ask him to bless their babies. The thing is he has a gravelly, underpitch, uninteresting, untrained sound. The people who like him are as nuts as the pregnant ladies wanting blessing. But he's rich and famous.

Capitalism.