Liberal Forum

GeorgeWashington » 04 May 2014 2:37 pm » wrote:
The problem with the current definition is that the crony capitalists have coopted the word capitalism.

This is a mistake.

Capitalism is a system where CAPITAL makes the rules, and all of the emphasis and power are focused on CAPITAL.

Free Enterprise is a system which rewards ENTERPRISE, not capital, and participants need no special license, no imprimatur of entrance, no friends in high places - just an idea, some energy, and as much money as market implementation of that idea requires.

WE DON'T HAVE A CRONY CAPITALISM PROBLEM. WE HAVE A CAPITALISM PROBLEM. The solution is free enterprise - what the founders implemented when they overthrew the British East India Company.

GeorgeWashington » 04 May 2014 2:37 pm » wrote: Fundamentally, capitalism is simply the private exchange of capital for goods and services, capital being anything of value, be it labor or the fruits of labor. Many people think we live in a capitalist society when it is actually crony capitalism, where the rules of the road are written by the powerful to keep the powerless from getting a leg up. The prime example of this is "deregulation" in recent years that yields more regs, which benefit the monied.

Mo, we live in a capitalist society. Capitalism is what it is, and pretending that your abuser's problem is curable - that he's ACTUALLY a "good guy" who just needs therapy - is not the solution. Nuking Wall Street to rescue Main Street is the solution.