12-26-2012, 04:26 AM
(This post was last modified: 12-26-2012, 05:11 AM by FireIceTalon.)
We still have capitalism. The greed we see now is just the inevitable byproduct and a symptom of the capitalist mode of production, it has always been there. Indeed it is a terribly destructive force, but you cannot have capitalism without greed - it is scientifically impossible - whether it is State Capitalism seen in the former Soviet Union, or the private enterprise version in western states. There is no such thing as "true" capitalism - capitalism is capitalism. Sure, the amount of state involvement varies from nation to nation, and from time to time, but the end result and purpose is always the same - capitalists control the means of production and thus society is divided into haves and have-nots - those who rule society and those who are ruled, and the social and political institutions are developed and operate accordingly. It is the exploitation of the majority by the minority. The only difference is if you wish to live with no dignity under absolute state power, or a combination of state power and corporate welfare. Me personally, I hate both.
Asking for capitalists (or the state for that matter) to be more ethical and responsible and not play with other peoples money is idealistic. If only those darn capitalists were more responsible and ethical...yea, right. The bailout of various corporations and Wall Street back in 2008 surprised a lot of people, including myself at the time, but that was also when I was a bleeding heart, patriotic liberal/social democrat (shudders): before I woke up and learned how capitalism and its relationship to the State really works, and became a full blown Marxist. Looking back on it, it is no mystery to me at all now. Lastly, terms like "free-market economics" are just buzzwords that have little or no meaning. Free for who? There is no such thing as a "free market" for the majority of society - you cannot choose what university you get to go to. You do not choose any kind of car you want. You do not choose which type of health insurance plan you want. You do not choose what type of house you get to live in. Or how often you eat out and where you eat at. You get what you can AFFORD (unless of course, you are a capitalist and have control of the means to production, and then it doesn't matter).
Asking for capitalists (or the state for that matter) to be more ethical and responsible and not play with other peoples money is idealistic. If only those darn capitalists were more responsible and ethical...yea, right. The bailout of various corporations and Wall Street back in 2008 surprised a lot of people, including myself at the time, but that was also when I was a bleeding heart, patriotic liberal/social democrat (shudders): before I woke up and learned how capitalism and its relationship to the State really works, and became a full blown Marxist. Looking back on it, it is no mystery to me at all now. Lastly, terms like "free-market economics" are just buzzwords that have little or no meaning. Free for who? There is no such thing as a "free market" for the majority of society - you cannot choose what university you get to go to. You do not choose any kind of car you want. You do not choose which type of health insurance plan you want. You do not choose what type of house you get to live in. Or how often you eat out and where you eat at. You get what you can AFFORD (unless of course, you are a capitalist and have control of the means to production, and then it doesn't matter).
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"Your very ideas are but the outgrowth of conditions of your bourgeois production and bourgeois property, just as your jurisprudence is but the will of your class, made into law for all, a will whose essential character and direction are determined by the economic conditions of the existence of your class." - Marx (addressing the bourgeois)
"Your very ideas are but the outgrowth of conditions of your bourgeois production and bourgeois property, just as your jurisprudence is but the will of your class, made into law for all, a will whose essential character and direction are determined by the economic conditions of the existence of your class." - Marx (addressing the bourgeois)