Capitalism is not the Free Market

Capitalism is not the Free Market.

Do a little research. Capitalism as we understand it, the unrestrained search for more profit, is antithetical to Free Market activity. Give the Capitalist unrestrained freedom and it leads to our current dilemma: Reckless financial markets playing with other people's money, government corruption, and megalithic monopolies. The only way to have a truly free market that is beneficial to all, and not just a few, is to make sure every single market is open to fair competition through regulation. The bigger the institution participating in a market, the more regulation is should be subject to.

Most people fail to understand the difference between what is fair and having a fair shot. Let's say the economy is entirely deregulated and we wind up with one telephone mega corporation that has bought up all lesser competition in an effort to preserve profit (I.E. their only goal). When that happens, even though there are no regulations in place that would prevent a competitor from trying to get a slice of the pie and lowering prices, said megacorporation already has nigh unlimited power by virtue of their control in the market. The only way to make such a scenario "fair" would be to regulate the monopoly so that competition can find its way into the market. It is not a "level" approach for the monopoly, but honestly, why should we care whether MegaCorp A makes 350 billion in profit vs 250 billion in profit? Sure, it might be nice to own MegaCorp A one day, but statistically speaking, all of us are better off if some other company, or the American People, get that extra 100 billion in profit rather than MegaCorp A hoarding it for the sole purpose of creating more wealth to hoard to create more wealth, etc.

The Free Market is a good thing, Capitalism is a bad thing.

The only way to have Capitalism work for people who have less resources than those who do, is to level the playing field. "Wealth redistribution" as people like to term it these days was previously, from the 40's until Reagan, the main cause for our prosperity. Since the advent of Reaganomics, regulation and taxation of extreme wealth have become increasingly demonized and the average worker has suffered as a consequence. Neutral Economics don't trickle down. Neutral Economics don't further our people as a whole. The only thing that happens is that people with more resources are in a better position to accumulate more resources, the opposite being true for the poor. Also, Neutral Economics give people the catchy line of “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps” without realizing that most people who actually wore those bootstraps were participating in a regulated economy. No one told people in the Great Depression: “Just pull yourself up by the bootstraps. Work harder, and you’ll live the American Dream.” No. It was actually the lessons learned during the Great Depression that lead to radical reform and regulation that set off a wave of prosperity for the vast majority of Americans. Rich people could stay rich, just not quite as rich as before, and what we gained was a generation of independent, hard-working Americans who were able to live prosperous lives.

What most Republicans and 1%ers would like to call Capitalism today would be virtually unrecognizable to Adam Smith who once said: "The subject of every State ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the State." Please note the "IN PROPORTION" part of that statement. The father of modern Capitalism calling for a progressive tax. Shocker, no? He further went on to advocate luxury and land taxes and told us that banking regulations are ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, for the good of the people. All of these things are antithetical to the Democratic, Republican and Corporate agendas alike.

Capitalism, as it stands, flies in the face of the people and the Free Market. If people want "Capitalism" they should learn what that actually entails. We should be advocating Free Markets as taught by some of the smartest people over the past three centuries not bending over to let politicians, media stooges, and CEOs impose upon our capacity for thought the ridiculous straight jacket made of pithy economic phrases that they like to spew with their nearly constant stream of morally ambiguous, verbal effusion. Those of you who are middle class and poor, ask yourselves this question: Does your commitment to neutrality really mean that you want a worse life for yourself or your children, because you are committed to the notion that everyone should pay the same amount of tax regardless of income? Does your commitment to deregulation stand once you know that deregulation is the cause for the outsourcing of jobs and banks playing financial roulette with your hard-earned money?

As a people, we should have three goals:

1)Higher taxes on the rich.

There is only so much money that can go around, the higher a concentration in the top 1%, the less there is for us. Without this "wealth redistribution" the game is rigged. The families of the 1% will continue to accumulate wealth, and those below that will continue to lose it. Do you really want to wait until your family is affected to see what is happening underneath your nose? Reaganomics was one of the biggest hoaxes ever perpetrated on the American people. It was touted as revolutionary but really, it was a return to pre-Depression deregulation. Consider this: You know a number of conservatives hate Social Security? Well, if the Rich actually paid into it after the first 100,000 of their income, you might not have to.

2) Regulated markets.

When we criticize "progressives" for wanting handouts, keep in mind that they are asking for some very basic things. Food, shelter, education... Whereas corporations and banks are handed, literally, trillions of dollars when they ask. The playing field -needs- to be leveled. Every newcomer to a market should be able to make a dent, and if our current form of Capitalism can't do that for us, we need to hammer it into shape. Even with regulation, does anyone actually believe that companies will pull out of the U.S.? To lose a 400 million person market, just because they might make a 15% return as opposed to a 30% return on a billion dollar investment? Really?

3) A voice

Representative Democracy was a fantastic idea 250 years ago when it was nearly impossible to bring together disparate voices across the country in defense of their ideologies and ideas. Today, it is outdated. This country needs a public forum where, by virtue of being an American citizen, you are entitled to propose Government action and, if the majority of the country agrees with you, the Goverment must work on turning it into law. As it stands, we elect not our representatives, but our caretakers. When we the people don't have a direct line into Government, our caretakers can get away with just about anything. Imagine if a group of 20,000 concerned citizens could put into motion an impeachment? With 20,000 signatures, and then a majority vote from the people of the United States, we could toss out corrupt politicians, frighten the banks back in line, reform education... Politicians might actually start running for office rather than for power.

As you correctly point out the United States is no longer Capitalistic.

I agree that the Corporations of this country have siphoned off the wealth of the nation through sweet-heart deals given to them by Congress.

Where you and I will part is it is not Republican, it is Congress as a whole.

The two party system in this country is a joke. It is but one beast with two heads. The Corporations have been allowed to feed off Greed by both political parties.

Our form of Government does need some revision, but to think that pure democracy is possible is naive.

As you well know, anywhere you have Corporate money you have corruption and greed. We as a nation must remove the Corporate money from the political process. Enact term limits for our Senators and Congressmen. Return to the days when Corporations were limited to an expiring Charter and in order to be granted a Charter the Corporation must be of Public interest and benefit.

Democrats and Republicans carry equal blame in the direction the Corporations have lead us.
Corporatism = Fascism

Capitalism = Freedom

reply to post by brokedown


I can get behind that, Broke. I did mention Democrats passingly, I just have a particular hatred for the Republican party for how blatant they are... Then again, the Democratic party is quite insidious. At least with the GOP you're dealing with the "devil you know" ... En fin, I agree 100-freaking-percent. It's not just one side or the other, but both.

I agree with you completely. You present one of the only sane views on the subject I have heard in a while on this site. It always perplexes me when people chant that we need to end regulations on big business. Really? This is the worst thing you could do for the American people. Poor and middle class people are all told that if they work hard they can live the American dream.

What most don't know is that the way the current system is designed, most are set up to fail. Attempting to start your own business and have it actually succeed in a market controlled by big corporations is next to impossible. Even finding a niche market for your business is becoming more difficult, as the mega-corporations are branching out and selling/offering a wide variety of services and products.

Big business will always buy out any of the competition, instead of allowing them to grow into a formidable adversary. There are many problems with our current system, regulation, or lack thereof, being near the top. The very wealthiest of Americans have a monopolistic stranglehold on the middle class and the poor, as their wealth will serve only one purpose, which is to make them more money.

Considering all that these corporations and people get away with, I don't understand how anyone can say we shouldn't tax the rich more. They are lucky that is the only thing we want to do to them. Once you understand how much the American people get screwed over by the actions of these people and businesses, most can understand that taxing them more basically a slap on the wrist.