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For twenty-eight years, since the beginning of Ronald Reagan's first term, we have been subjected to a steady stream of Republican propaganda claiming that if we just got government out of the way and "off our backs," deregulate the economy, and let the market work its magic, prosperity would "trickle down" to the average American citizen. In the mid-1980s, corporate lobbyists descended on Washington, threw huge amounts of campaign cash around, and told us that deregulating the Savings and Loan industry would be a great idea. John McCain and his good friend Charles Keating from Arizona were big advocates of this scheme that turned out to be a disaster that cost taxpayers $160 billion.
For twenty-eight years, since the beginning of Ronald Reagan's first term, we have been subjected to a steady stream of Republican propaganda claiming that if we just got government out of the way and "off our backs," deregulate the economy, and let the market work its magic, prosperity would "trickle down" to the average American citizen. In the mid-1980s, corporate lobbyists descended on Washington, threw huge amounts of campaign cash around, and told us that deregulating the Savings and Loan industry would be a great idea. John McCain and his good friend Charles Keating from Arizona were big advocates of this scheme that turned out to be a disaster that cost taxpayers $160 billion.
The original capitalist visionairies like John Locke and Adam Smith are rolling over in their grave right now. They never envisioned a robber baron winner take all capitalistic economy for America. Nothing could be farther from the truth. And this is what Americans especially fail to understand. While they are brainwashed into believing what capitalism is...........they have no clue what it SHOULD BE. Our government and the corporations they support are antithetical to the entire underpinnings of capitalism. Capitalism is simply the private or individual ownership of all the value created by labor. EVERY AMERICAN deserves the opportunity to become a capitalist. In fact that was the premise of the inception of America. That we would all OWN a piece of the pie and there was enough of the pie aka capital to go around. Private property and property rights is a cornerstone of capitalism and freedom. It's a roadblock to government tyranny.
With that being said America is becoming less and less of an ownership society and more and more of an employer/employee society. We own nothing as a people. Your average American owns no land, no resources of any kind i.e. mines, timber, water, oil, etc. We barely own our houses, our cars and increasingly don't even own our education anymore. WE ARE SO FAR REMOVED from the original tenets of capitalism. Why? Because the fascists in capitalist clothes at the top have gobbled up everything for themselves. That's the cold, hard truth. When the right wing idiots champion and cheerlead what they think is capitalism they are acting the fool and being played. When the left wing idiots say capitalism has failed............they are acting the fool.
For capitalism to function you have to have a type of referree in place so to speak, an even playing field must be maintained. Capitalism does not operate morally or efficiently in a vacuum. It needs to be guided and nurtured by an honest, open, and transparent government. There has to be a system in place that skims off the top and gives back to the greater good, one that FREES UP CAPITAL. Otherwise we have what we have now, concentrated capital in the hands of a few masquerading as "capitalism". Corporations and banks being bailed out to the tune of billions? LMAO! Yeah right. Call it state corporatism, plutocracy, fascism.......cronyism........but my god please don't call it capitalism. IT"S NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Last edited by SoCalCroozer; 11-02-2011 at 05:38 PM..
For twenty-eight years, since the beginning of Ronald Reagan's first term, we have been subjected to a steady stream of Republican propaganda claiming that if we just got government out of the way and "off our backs," deregulate the economy, and let the market work its magic, prosperity would "trickle down" to the average American citizen. In the mid-1980s, corporate lobbyists descended on Washington, threw huge amounts of campaign cash around, and told us that deregulating the Savings and Loan industry would be a great idea. John McCain and his good friend Charles Keating from Arizona were big advocates of this scheme that turned out to be a disaster that cost taxpayers $160 billion.
Opinions of course!
I have to disagree. If we had Socialism for Wall Street then we would have nationalized profits too.
Instead we have a fascist economy where many debts are made public by actions of our federal government or POTUS and privatized profits.
Examples: TARP, General Motors, Solyndra, Lightsquared (if jobs bill infrastructure part passes), War in Libya (coming to light that JP Morgan and BP Oil will be major profiteers while taxpayers of NATO countries are stuck with the war debt).
I have to disagree. If we had Socialism for Wall Street then we would have nationalized profits too.
Instead we have a fascist economy where many debts are made public by actions of our federal government or POTUS and privatized profits.
Examples: TARP, General Motors, Solyndra, Lightsquared (if jobs bill infrastructure part passes), War in Libya (coming to light that JP Morgan and BP Oil will be major profiteers while taxpayers of NATO countries are stuck with the war debt).
Nationalized profits are evil!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought you said socialism was causing all the ills of society in the 12 year old shopping cart thread.
Fascism is the merge of state and corporate power.
Fascism is essentially organized capitalism. By organizing capitalism, and tying the interests of corporations to that of the State, Mussolini was able to, in some ways, please the wealthy elite while at the same time pleasing the working classes of Italy. Mussolini promised to restore discipline to the workplace and to back up and support private industry, while at the same time removing some of the autonomy and individual power of private interests. Elements of Mussolini's fascist system, such as the National Council of Corporations, which was to be comprised of representatives from industry, labor, and state, who worked together to settle labor disputes and guide industry, the Institute for Industrial Reconstruction, and other such state bureaucracies, regulated and administered Italy's economy. Well established big businessmen became highly involved in the state bureaucracy and the Corporate State became a tool for establishment businessmen to serve themselves. The Italian system also subsidized and regulated agriculture as part of their program for national self sufficiency. Mussolini pushed for autarchy, economic self-sufficiency, which won popular support as a means to make Italians more independent and as a protectionist measure for Italian businesses.
Nationalized profits are evil!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought you said socialism was causing all the ills of society in the 12 year old shopping cart thread.
Fascist economies are evil as are Marxist ones. Real Capitalism, where the government stays out of the way and allows the free markets to work, is an always has been the best engine for economic and technological progress.
What you are witnessing in Europe and in the US is the failure of fiat currencies and government interference in the markets.
I have to disagree. If we had Socialism for Wall Street then we would have nationalized profits too.
Instead we have a fascist economy where many debts are made public by actions of our PRIVATIZED federal government or POTUS and privatized profits.
Fixed that for you. You voted for it all along and now complain you're the victim of liberals who wanted nothing to do with it.
Liberals (and the rest of us) have been defending real principles of conservatives all along. Not the fake ones. Not think tanks hijacking the right wing & selling America out on the court house steps.
Fascist economies are evil as are Marxist ones. Real Capitalism, where the government stays out of the way and allows the free markets to work, is an always has been the best engine for economic and technological progress.
What you are witnessing in Europe and in the US is the failure of fiat currencies and government interference in the markets.
You're making idiotic statements without understanding ANYTHING about what capitalism is. When Adam Smith talked about the "guiding hand" and laissez faire he also talked about ONLY taking enough capital by which an individual needed to in order to be productive. What you think of capitalism is not the government getting out of the way. That will only lead to a further stratified inequality. The robber baron days. That is not capitalism. What Adam Smith was assuming and like Ron Paul advocates is that in order for Capitalism to flourish the players in it must act responsibly, ethically and honestly. Capitalism can be just as destructive in the wrong hands as fascism, communism, and socialism have been. So no you're wrong. You have not understanding the capitalist ideology and are just regurgitating neocon right wing propaganda.
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You're making idiotic statements without understanding ANYTHING about what capitalism is. When Adam Smith talked about the "guiding hand" and laissez faire he also talked about ONLY taking enough capital by which an individual needed to in order to be productive. What you think of capitalism is not the government getting out of the way. That will only lead to a further stratified inequality. The robber baron days. That is not capitalism. What Adam Smith was assuming and like Ron Paul advocates is that in order for Capitalism to flourish the players in it must act responsibly, ethically and honestly. Capitalism can be just as destructive in the wrong hands as fascism, communism, and socialism have been. So no you're wrong. You have not understanding the capitalist ideology and are just regurgitating neocon right wing propaganda.
