Capitalism. Let's see a system where the workers who produce everything earn almost nothing, while the wealthy parasites who produce nothing earn almost everthing. Initiative to work? The avoidance of starvation. Well that's certainly an initaitive.
A On Oct 15, 8:36 pm, Travis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Capitalism or free enterprise always succeeds. socialism or any other form > of collectivism always fails becaust the latter destroy the initiative of > man. SIMPLE. > > > > On Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 4:05 AM, Lone Wolf <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Ask the fat lady > > > On Oct 15, 6:19 pm, "M.A. Johnson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > "To condemn free-market capitalism because of anything going on today > > makes no sense. There is no evidence that capitalism exists today. We are > > deeply involved in an interventionist-planned economy that allows major > > benefits to accrue to the politically connected of both political parties. > > One may condemn the fraud and the current system, but it must be called by > > its proper names Keynesian inflationism, interventionism, and > > corporatism."Has Capitalism Failed?Ron Paul, Congressional Record US House > > of Representatives July 9, 2002It is now commonplace and politically correct > > to blame what is referred to as the excesses of capitalism for the economic > > problems we face, and especially for the Wall Street fraud that dominates > > the business news. Politicians are having a field day with demagoguing the > > issue while, of course, failing to address the fraud and deceit found in the > > budgetary shenanigans of the federal government for which they are directly > > responsible. Instead, it gives the Keynesian crowd that runs the show a > > chance to attack free markets and ignore the issue of sound money. > > > So once again we hear the chant: "Capitalism has failed; we need more > > government controls over the entire financial market." No one asks why the > > billions that have been spent and thousands of pages of regulations that > > have been written since the last major attack on capitalism in the 1930s > > didn't prevent the fraud and deception of Enron, WorldCom, and Global > > Crossings. That failure surely couldn't have come from a dearth of > > regulations. > > > What is distinctively absent is any mention that all financial bubbles > > are saturated with excesses in hype, speculation, debt, greed, fraud, gross > > errors in investment judgment, carelessness on the part of analysts and > > investors, huge paper profits, conviction that a new era economy has arrived > > and, above all else, pie-in-the-sky expectations. > > > When the bubble is inflating, there are no complaints. When it bursts, > > the blame game begins. This is especially true in the age of victimization, > > and is done on a grand scale. It quickly becomes a philosophic, partisan, > > class, generational, and even a racial issue. While avoiding the real cause, > > all the finger pointing makes it difficult to resolve the crisis and further > > undermines the principles upon which freedom and prosperity rest. > > > Nixon was right once when he declared "We're all Keynesians now." All of > > Washington is in sync in declaring that too much capitalism has brought us > > to where we are today. The only decision now before the central planners in > > Washington is whose special interests will continue to benefit from the > > coming pretense at reform. The various special interests will be lobbying > > heavily like the Wall Street investors, the corporations, the > > military-industrial complex, the banks, the workers, the unions, the > > farmers, the politicians, and everybody else. > > > But what is not discussed is the actual cause and perpetration of the > > excesses now unraveling at a frantic pace. This same response occurred in > > the 1930s in the United States as our policy makers responded to the very > > similar excesses that developed and collapsed in 1929. Because of the > > failure to understand the problem then, the depression was prolonged. These > > mistakes allowed our current problems to develop to a much greater degree. > > Consider the failure to come to grips with the cause of the 1980s bubble, as > > Japan's economy continues to linger at no-growth and recession level, with > > their stock market at approximately one-fourth of its peak 13 years ago. If > > we're not careful and so far we've not been we will make the same errors > > that will prevent the correction needed before economic growth can be > > resumed. > > > In the 1930s, it was quite popular to condemn the greed of capitalism, > > the gold standard, lack of regulation, and a lack government insurance on > > bank deposits for the disaster. Businessmen became the scapegoat. Changes > > were made as a result, and the welfare/warfare state was institutionalized. > > Easy credit became the holy grail of monetary policy, especially under Alan > > Greenspan, "the ultimate Maestro." Today, despite the presumed protection > > from these government programs built into the system, we find ourselves in a > > bigger mess than ever before. The bubble is bigger, the boom lasted longer, > > and the gold price has been deliberately undermined as an economic signal. > > Monetary inflation continues at a rate never seen before in a frantic effort > > to prop up stock prices and continue the housing bubble, while avoiding the > > consequences that inevitably come from easy credit. This is all done because > > we are unwilling to acknowledge that current policy is only setting the > > stage for a huge drop in the value of the dollar. Everyone fears it, but no > > one wants to deal with it. > > > Ignorance, as well as disapproval for the natural restraints placed on > > market excesses that capitalism and sound markets impose, cause our present > > leaders to reject capitalism and blame it for all the problems we face. If > > this fallacy is not corrected and capitalism is even further undermined, the > > prosperity that the free market generates will be destroyed. > > > Corruption and fraud in the accounting practices of many companies are > > coming to light. There are those who would have us believe this is an > > integral part of free-market capitalism. If we did have free-market > > capitalism, there would be no guarantees that some fraud wouldn't occur. > > When it did, it would then be dealt with by local law-enforcement authority > > and not by the politicians in Congress, who had their chance to "prevent" > > such problems but chose instead to politicize the issue, while using the > > opportunity to promote more useless Keynesian regulations. > > > Capitalism should not be condemned, since we haven't had capitalism. A > > system of capitalism presumes sound money, not fiat money manipulated by a > > central bank. Capitalism cherishes voluntary contracts and interest rates > > that are determined by savings, not credit creation by a central bank. It's > > not capitalism when the system is plagued with incomprehensible rules > > regarding mergers, acquisitions, and stock sales, along with wage controls, > > price controls, protectionism, corporate subsidies, international management > > of trade, complex and punishing corporate taxes, privileged government > > contracts to the military-industrial complex, and a foreign policy > > controlled by corporate interests and overseas investments. Add to this > > centralized federal mismanagement of farming, education, medicine, > > insurance, banking and welfare. This is not capitalism! > > > To condemn free-market capitalism because of anything going on today > > makes no sense. There is no evidence that capitalism exists today. We are > > deeply involved in an interventionist-planned economy that allows major > > benefits to accrue to the politically connected of both political parties. > > One may condemn the fraud and the current system, but it must be called by > > its proper names Keynesian inflationism, interventionism, and corporatism. > > > What is not discussed is that the current crop of bankruptcies reveals > > that the blatant distortions and lies emanating from years of speculative > > orgy were predictable. > > > First, Congress should be investigating the federal government's fraud > > and deception in accounting, especially in reporting future obligations such > > as Social Security, and how the monetary system destroys wealth. Those > > problems are bigger than anything in the corporate world and are the > > responsibility of Congress. Besides, it's the standard set by the government > > and the monetary system it operates that are major contributing causes to > > all that's wrong on Wall Street today. Where fraud does exist, it's a state > > rather than a federal matter, and state authorities can enforce these laws > > without any help from Congress. > > > Second, we do know why financial bubbles occur, and we know from history > > that they are routinely associated with speculation, excessive debt, wild > > promises, greed, lying, and cheating. These problems were described by quite > > a few observers as the problems were developing throughout the 1990s, but > > the warnings were ignored for one reason. Everybody was making a killing and > > no one cared, and those who were reminded of history were reassured by the > > Fed chairman that "this time" a new economic era had arrived and not to > > worry. Productivity increases, it was said, could explain it all. > > > But now we know that's just not so. Speculative bubbles and all that > > we've been witnessing are a consequence of huge amounts of easy credit, > > created out of thin air by the Federal Reserve. We've had essentially no > > savings, which is one of the most significant driving forces in capitalism. > > The illusion created by low interest rates perpetuates the bubble and all > > the bad stuff that goes along with it. And that's not a fault of capitalism. > > We are dealing with a system of inflationism and interventionism that always > > produces a bubble economy that must end badly. > > > So far the assessment made by the administration, Congress, and the Fed > > bodes badly for our economic future. All they offer is more of the same, > > which can't possibly help. All it will do is drive us closer to national > > bankruptcy, a sharply lower dollar, and a lower standard of living for most > > Americans, as well as less freedom for everyone. > > > This is a bad scenario that need not happen. But preserving our system is > > impossible if the critics > > ... > > read more »- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
