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Capitalism is an economic theory that has great promise but has always been corrupted by business that eliminates the risk inherent in a free market and substitutes the certainty of monopoly and government subsidy. At the highest level of our economy risk has been seemingly eliminated. Bailing out the investment banks after the mortgage schemes collapsed is an example. What is not seen is the government no longer has the ability for another bailout so the risk to the huge investors has returned. The next collapse will take everyone down including the "masters of the universe" that have so successfully manipulated the markets and the government of the world.
IMHO most people, including me, do not hate Capitalism but do despise the current system masquerading as capitalism. Most people do not benefit from a system where blatant speculation and gambling with our investments is protected by a government owned and controlled by the corrupt. We do not hate Capitalism but we do despise the current system whatever it should be called.
I believe you are correct and I agree with your well-written assessment of the situation. I agree that the next collapse will bring down even more people. I too support a return to a better version of capitalism where abuses are not allowed.
I would describe this better version as one where there is some kind of moral accountability. The free market is amoral, it has no moral compass, it doesn't know right from wrong. It can produce destruction AND profit simultaneously with none of its participants being held accountable. The risk of such a situation, like the risk you mention, needs to be reintroduced. It cannot be eliminated. You can't have those at the top be free from responsibility. If corporations (the basic unit of capitalism in my layperson's view) are going to be citizens, they need to be MODEL citizens with all the risk that goes with citizenship. No free rides, no monopolies, no bailouts, no special treatment, no lobbying, no law-writing, no campaign funding. I wonder if this is this even possible considering the amount of power that has been abused to date.
Capitalism is an economic theory that has great promise but has always been corrupted by business that eliminates the risk inherent in a free market and substitutes the certainty of monopoly and government subsidy. At the highest level of our economy risk has been seemingly eliminated. Bailing out the investment banks after the mortgage schemes collapsed is an example. What is not seen is the government no longer has the ability for another bailout so the risk to the huge investors has returned. The next collapse will take everyone down including the "masters of the universe" that have so successfully manipulated the markets and the government of the world.
IMHO most people, including me, do not hate Capitalism but do despise the current system masquerading as capitalism. Most people do not benefit from a system where blatant speculation and gambling with our investments is protected by a government owned and controlled by the corrupt. We do not hate Capitalism but we do despise the current system whatever it should be called.
Agreed! Look at Solyndra, what a scam.
Another part of the argument is that our government over regulates and strangles certain markets, so there is no ability for the invisible hand to correct them. Bad products and services thrive, costs soar, and corruption and cronyism are rampant, the health care, banking and insurance industries come to mind.
It is 100% up to the politicians to not allow themselves to be bought and it is not even remotely only the 1% who fund elections and/or buy votes. There are many many special interest groups who do this including the unions.
So, why are you supporting the OWS?
Because the problem is BOTH political parties, and the problem isn't with individuals--it's with the entire system, and it's not just one side. Both parties have to work together to fix this, because both sides created it, and neither is going to do anything unless there's a big public stink. That's what's going on now with OWS.
Why are you on this tangent about the protests being misdirected because they're not screaming at the white house or congress? This isn't just an American problem. As for our protests here, they've identified the problem--big business control of our political process--and now it's up to our elected officials to fix it. As long as the protests are putting pressure on elected officials to get special interests out of elections and to put back the meaningful reforms on wall street and the banks that BOTH sides have gutted, it works. It's working now--it's all that everyone is talking about.
When the big creditors go bankrupt and there is no money to buy stocks, then the system will restructure if it wishes to recover from the big bust. Populist political pressure (OWS) will not have any effect because the big boys don't even notice let alone care. What they will notice is their overvalued stocks not selling, nobody buying insurance because they are out of jobs and broke, people telling the credit card thieves it all over and you can eat the balance. Then they will notice. Then they will cry for government bailouts and we will say, "No can do. We're broke. You already took all we had." Then china will cut us off and the bottom will fall out of everything.
The international banks do not care if Iceland tells them they are broke and can't make any more payments. They don't even care if Greece does the same. They will notice when India tells them to go scratch. They will notice when Russia raises oil prices to replacement levels. Then they will see their own pyramid scheme collapse as the rest of the EU government cannot pay their debt.
What will come of a worldwide economic collapse is not really predictable but I could hope it would include more support for the people that create the wealth and a lot less for the scammers that steal it.
Because the problem is BOTH political parties, and the problem isn't with individuals--it's with the entire system, and it's not just one side. Both parties have to work together to fix this, because both sides created it, and neither is going to do anything unless there's a big public stink. That's what's going on now with OWS.
Why are you on this tangent about the protests being misdirected because they're not screaming at the white house or congress? This isn't just an American problem. As for our protests here, they've identified the problem--big business control of our political process--and now it's up to our elected officials to fix it. As long as the protests are putting pressure on elected officials to get special interests out of elections and to put back the meaningful reforms on wall street and the banks that BOTH sides have gutted, it works. It's working now--it's all that everyone is talking about.
Because I know that I am arguing with a thinly veiled socialist movement whose members are devastated at the fact that Obama was not the transformational leader that he fooled you into thinking he was.
That's what the OWS movement is all about. These people thought that were changing the world with this president. They gave it more than two years and zippo! Nothing. With the exception of the healthcare overhaul, things are just the same as they were when he came into office. He lied to you and you are frustrated. He promised all these things that he could not possibly deliver and you bought it hook, line, and sinker.
Hopefully people such as yourself have learned a lesson.
IMO, it's a pretty solid read and makes some really excellent points. I'm going to share one section that really stuck out to me:
This, in a nutshell (to me), basically describes why capitalism works so well. This is the exact reason why people point out the hypocrisy with "OWS" (and all of the other protests). They will stand out there for weeks..protesting against out system..and most of them being very anti-capitalist. Well that's fine, we are a free society and they have a right to protest....but when you're spending all of this time and your consuming products you are supporting capitalism. This, of course, is just my opinion.
What are your thoughts? I do hope you've read it.
I think that whole discussion about capitalism vs socialism is outdated anyway. I don't care if it is a government or a corporation that has a lot of power and money, I like neither.
I don't like our current system because it creates a lot of problems. I try to lead a very minimalist life and I think I should serve as an example in terms of material modesty, environmental friendliness, etc. Having said that, our economy would soon collapse if everyone lived like I do. I guess we have to do what we are doing because we don't know what else to do. Ever since we all but abandoned agriculture, people have been struggling to find anything to do so they can get money and pay their food from others.
Do you really think that the 1 out of every 100 people are "sitting in their ivory towers"?
FYI: One out of every one hundred top wage earners include most moderately high paying jobs like the doctors, lawyers, executives, and even many well paying public sector jobs like university presidents.
Doctors, lawyers, high paying public service sector jobs arent even in the same ball game financially that the OWS crowd are directing their protests at.
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Look at Solyndra, what a scam.
