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Capitalism is an organic system which cannot be tricked, fooled or legislated. Every time it has been mucked with by governments, that government goes to hell and then they blame capitalism.
Capitalism started when the 1st person trades a pelt for food. It is a system of supply and demand. It is the fair trading of two parties which agree on the value of the goods that they are trading.
That's it in a nutshell.
We are living in a period where "crony capitalism" is prevalent.....obama and his regime are neck deep in it. Whether it is using tax payer dollars to buy the votes of the poor, or to buy "donations" from billionaires, "crony capitalism" is a problem.
Who do you think were at obama's Thursday evening fund raiser at $32,000 per person in NY?
ROTFLMAO !!!!!!!!!!
Never heard anything about all them bubbles out there, ranging from Tulip Madness to the recent mortgage bubble? Give me a break!
You confuse the free market (trade) with capitalism, which is far more complex.
Trade is walking into a bazarre and trading your pig for cloth and potatoes and seed for wheat and corn.
Capitalism is gathering resources to create the means for mass producing goods for sale. (Note that "mass" is relative and scalable)
Capitalism is an economic system in which trade, industry, and the means of production are largely or entirely privately owned and operated for profit.[1][2] Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets and wage labour.[3] In a capitalist economy, the parties to a transaction typically determine the prices at which assets, goods, and services are exchanged.[4]
We have known for decades that capitalism is not a stable system. It leads to panics, depressions, and social conditions that lead to political instability.
Totally false. True free market capitalism is not at all unstable. But we haven't had an economic system like that in America since the 19th century.
By contrast, the social-corporatist economic system that exists in present-day USA is highly unstable, and is becoming more so daily as government tightens its stranglehold on the means of production in the name of "fairness," "social justice," and "environmental justice."
Sorry, but if you're going to denounce one system you have to have another to fall back on. And any argument you make to denounce capitalism needs to apply to capitalism only, otherwise it's null and void.
In other words, capitalism always fails. There is nothing moral about 1 rich man and everyone else ending up dead or fighting over the remaining scraps. That is the end result of capitalism. We don't hold hands and sing kum-bah-ya in capitalism.
Our system of capitalism, as diluted and corrupt as it is, has created the greatest country in the history of the world, and by a huge margin. Capitalism is simply the economic expression of freedom and liberty. Everyone gets a chance to be rich, if they are good enough, and by offering value rather than victimizing others.
We need to release capitalism from its present oppressive bonds by eliminating redistribution and turning virtually everything over to the free sector. We are better than all the other countries of the world, we could be 10 times better under true laissez-faire capitalism.
Imagine how many oppressed residents of the workers paradises would send their children to our borders if we were truly free. It boggles the mind.
If you like freedom, and liberty, and happiness, and creativity, and innovation, then Capitalism is your system. If you want to live in a depressed gray miasma of failure and mediocrity, populated with sniveling whining horrible miserable useless people whose lives are without any importance or meaning, choose collectivism and Socialism. The choice is clear and on display. Nobody is sending their precious children to the border of Russia or Venezuela, are they?
Let me guess. You think that the mortgage bubble resulted from Barney Frank holding guns to the heads of all those CEOs, forcing them to make bad loans and then forcing them to create all those fraudulent CMO's, DMO's, credit default swaps, and so on down the line ... LMAO!!!!!!!
Funny, I dont remember hearing anything about Barney Frank's involvement in forcing Moody's, Standard & Poor's, or Fitch's to fraudulently rate those derivatives as AAA, perfectly safe for all.
A person should do their due diligence before buying a house they cannot afford on exotic arrangements they do not understand.
Sorry, but if you're going to denounce one system you have to have another to fall back on. And any argument you make to denounce capitalism needs to apply to capitalism only, otherwise it's null and void.
No, I don't.
You can have the wood for your strawman argument.
Our mixed economic system (along with the rest of the 1st world) is superior to capitalism. It blends capitalism and socialism. Capitalism has always failed. Socialism has always failed. Regulations and safety nets exist to prevent the evils of capitalism. My denounciation is correct.
Our system of capitalism, as diluted and corrupt as it is, has created the greatest country in the history of the world, and by a huge margin. Capitalism is simply the economic expression of freedom and liberty. Everyone gets a chance to be rich, if they are good enough, and by offering value rather than victimizing others.
No, it isn't a huge margin. Our middle class is worse than most of the OECD countries. If you are in the top 10% in the United States, you are doing better than the rest of the world. If you are in the bottom 90%, you are better off in a more "socialist" country such as Australia or Canada.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Paolella
We need to release capitalism from its present oppressive bonds by eliminating redistribution and turning virtually everything over to the free sector. We are better than all the other countries of the world, we could be 10 times better under true laissez-faire capitalism.
Heavens no!
We need to eliminate redistribution up to the elites. The free sector cannot be trusted to create a market that is "fair" or "free" for everyone. Capitalism + human nature = monopolies. Why do we have labor regulations? Why do we have anti-trust laws?
We had laissez-faire capitalism. It resulted in regulations that exist today. The people voted otherwise. Unfettered capitalism fails, sorry.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Paolella
Imagine how many oppressed residents of the workers paradises would send their children to our borders if we were truly free. It boggles the mind.
Our immigrants are from the Western Hemisphere in poorer countries. Are Canadians knocking down our border to come here?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Paolella
If you like freedom, and liberty, and happiness, and creativity, and innovation, then Capitalism is your system. If you want to live in a depressed gray miasma of failure and mediocrity, populated with sniveling whining horrible miserable useless people whose lives are without any importance or meaning, choose collectivism and Socialism. The choice is clear and on display. Nobody is sending their precious children to the border of Russia or Venezuela, are they?
This is the dumbest thing I have heard this am. Yes, let the business people decide what is the best for everyone. That should put us in a good spot.
Its even dumber than you imply. Government is merely the bagged compost one uses to fill a power vacuum. Its kind of made of crap, but its all we have to do the job. Remove a democratically elected occupation of power and all that happens is that an unelected one moves in.
This is not meant to be all inclusive but to provide a framework to the issue the OP brings up. Capitalism to be most successful requires the following: 1) A society of predominantly moral people. (There will always be some who take undue advantage but IF the legal and legislative political systems remain distant and guided by moral values -whatever they may be - humanistic social to religious - they tend to work well. That is those behaving badly get punished for the behavior - (We don't have this - see Too Big To Jail - Matt Taibbi article in Rolling Stone) and the leaders have a more benevolent / egalitarian outlook on insuring large amounts of people also share or have a stake in the success (as they measure it). 2) A large amount of undeveloped / unexplored land and resources and harsher life cycle for humans (i.e. short life expectancies, heavy requirements for human labor, and external driver - the harshness itself ). This allows large timelines of expansion without as much consequences. 3) Continuous decoupling of attempts by corporate interests in co -opting / corrupting the governmental process (particularly financial banking industry and other corporate lobbyists writing legislation which creates monopolies and cartels etc...see Jack Abramoff detailing how this works)
Things that bring it quickly to critical junctures: 1) Rapid technological advancements that displace labor (coupled with long life expectancy - the long life expectancy now prompts a huge need for the social safety net and ancillary programs) 2) Ease of communication and access to information for all people in the society (ability for masses to organize easily when grievances on mass scale warrant it, coupled with exposure i.e. real transparency). Note the contrast to current government leaders efforts to hinder such actions (Assange' smear campaign, Eric Snowden and other industry whistleblowers of any sort) 3) Large scale fraud/ corruption within the system (manipulation of financial system: interest rate suppression, resource hording, managed 'scarcity' for maximum unit margin gain et al) with little to no punishment of the 'owners' of the driving mechanics.
Corporate government symbiotic relationships (corporate fascism: Monsanto writing there own agribusiness laws whereby they are not culpable) whereby the general welfare is last priority and a financial system not truly backed by anything of value other than military force (Why is the USA have forces in 130 plus countries? If you think it is too 'spread democracy / keep the peace' you are wrong - it is too preserve the current world currency of exchange through any and all means: control of resources and commerce flows.
At its root Capitalism is AMORAL. When left unchecked by a moral people in a 'flatter' world, its bad aspects become more readily apparent. Here's an old post that should help illustrate.
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