[MD] Protestant Capitalism

[John Carl]

On Tue, May 12, 2009 at 12:48 PM, <plattholden at gmail.com> wrote:


> Guns and other deadly weapons are made in communist, socialist, fascist and
> other
> economic systems besides capitalist. So that's not the issue. The issue is
> who can
> legally use them to coerce people to do things. You and I and businesses we
> work
> for can't. Governments can.


But  Platt, what difference does it make when huge corporations lobby, bribe
and pressure their governments to do their coercing for them?



>
>
> What is often called "slave labor" is also called cheap labor compared to
> the cost
> of union labor. What is often called "exploitation" is also called a better
> living by
> those affected. What are often called "sweetheart deals" are also called
> corrupt
> politics. As for the "statist propaganda machine" being capitalist, I
> simply
> refer you to how the major media slant the news in favor of Statists.
>

There is a very cozy relationship between gargantuan state and gargantuan
capitalism.  Ike's famous prayer, God help this country from falling into
the hands of the military-industrial complex, illustrates that this is an
actual danger.

Power corrupts, whether the power is in the hands of the state or
corporations.


The wonderful thing about a free market is
> that buyer and seller, with competing and sometimes hostile egos, both get
> what they want peacefully.
>

I agree.  I just think there is a better way to do this than our current
system.  And I'd like to chime in with Paco from an earlier contribution to
this thread:

>From Paco:

IMO, Capitalism as a social system with its corresponding selfish ideology
should be exposed for what it is  from the point of view of Quality.  (snip)

  So Pirsigians, unite! Down with the pretense. I believe people have a
sense Quality to come up with viable alternatives to capitalism.