At the same time I believe you also have responsibilities. As the saying goes "with great power, comes great responsibility." If you are a successful person, you should make sure that you are not exploiting others in your trip to the top; and once you are there, help others climb the same ladder, instead of kicking out the rungs on your way up.
This is what Occupy Wall Street is about. Sure there's people in the crowd that believe in Communism but most of us know that isn't a successful economic model. We are trying to save true capitalism from corruption, corporate socialism, and greed. A true "free market" would never have bailed out banks who made terrible business decisions, got saved by the taxpayers, and then thanked us by foreclosing on our homes instead of negotiating new mortgages.
Our issue is not with the people who have legitimately accumulated wealth through hard work, reward the employees who helped get them there and don't try to find ways out of paying their taxes. That is what makes America great, that is the "American Dream". Our beef is with those who have made their wealth by manipulating financial markets, exploiting their workers, employing lobbyists and accountants so that not only do they not pay taxes, they manage to get corporate welfare that we the taxpayers end up paying for. That's not capitalism, that is the very "socialism" that their most brainwashed supporters ironically denounce.
The "free market" is one in which consumers get to choose which company they want to do business with and there are more than just one choice. The free market should be one where a business thrives because of the product it produces, not by using politicians to pass regulations that stifle anyone else who tries to compete. In the free market, the bad apples would be allowed to rot, without contaminating others.
We are the 99% and we support the honest 1%.
Amen!
ReplyDeleteStraightforward, with no rhetoric... Yessir, that's how I like my political discourse! You, my friend, have a new fan...
ReplyDeleteCapitalism isn't about hard work. It's about using your existing wealth (capital) to make more wealth.
ReplyDeleteIf workers got full value for their hard work capitalism would fail because the capitalists would not make a return on their financial investments.
I don't have a problem with people lending financial support and getting a reasonable return, but why should someone who puts money in get to keep receiving a share of profits forever and ever, when those who put in work, even if they are well compensated, only get compensation as long as they are capable of putting out more work...
A person who works for wages should not be taxed, as s/he is contributing to the contract with their employer in equal measure to what they receive. Employment is a zero sum transaction with no realized gain for the employee. The employer, however, is free to make whatever profit from that contract that can be borne by the market for the product produced. That profit is an "added value" contract with the consumer and that is where taxation should be levied.
ReplyDeleteRepeal the "Iron Law of Wages" !!!
ReplyDeleteCommunities are more than "markets." Without commuities, "markets" would not exist. To reduce arguements about communities to a discussion of "markets" misses the point. "Markets" exist to promote fair exchange of goods and services. But, communities exist becuase we are human beings, not merely employers or employees. We have needs that "markets" can't meet.
Any discussion of capitalism is a discussion of how to "take advantage" of the difference between the costs of production and the value of the product. The "Iron Law" of wages says there is a logical advantage to keeping wages as low as possible -- and deferring all other costs to the commons.
Whether "paradox" or "contridiction" Capitalism must be regulated to keep it from going insane and destroying community.
Easier said than done. Capitalism would be stable and sustainable on the planet Vulcan (if you're a Star Trek fan you know what I mean) where there is no greed. Greed is the monkey in the wench. Adam Smith was only half right when he talked about the invisible hand. Yes people should follow their self interest, but their self interest must also be reconciled with the common good.
ReplyDelete