Kevin_M wrote on Sep 23rd, 2009 at 8:24am:Melissa wrote on Sep 22nd, 2009 at 8:32pm:loopy wrote: Detractors point at our disaster of an economy as a perfect example of the failure of capitalism,
Not as much a failure as might be reflecting a certain shortcoming in part.
Melissa wrote on Sep 22nd, 2009 at 8:32pm:I usually don't agree with a LOT of what Arianna Huffington writes, but ... I found it interesting...
Quote:In capitalism as envisioned by its leading lights, including Adam Smith and Alfred Marshall, you need a moral foundation in order for free markets to work.
...
This hits on something long a part to be understood, but difficult to be seen trickling down.
Reforms were required in the Progressive Era of the early 20th century to counter the some of the worst results of the Gilded Age of capitalism. But by presupposing that capitalists had a sense of social responsibility, which would prevent the need for aggressive federal intervention in the marketplace, things didn't turn out that way leading to the Depression.
In today's world, the CEO of Exxon/Mobil has expressed social responsibility at their annual meeting as the duty to continue marketing oil as America's energy. A far different tune than what might have been intended by the term.
Unfortunately "social responsibility" has become an elastic term that can be stretched and manipulated to give a sheen of decency to almost anything.
Unchecked capitalism is as much a thing to be feared as unchecked socialism; Both are systems that in their purest sense discount the human spirit. Take either system however and combine them with humanity and simple ethics and morality and they become so alike as to be indistinguishable.
I also wish to make an observation on capitalism and free markets. Some in this discussion have blamed government interference in the free markets as the cause of the latest financial meltdown. I disagree. There is no such thing as a free market economy in a world where there are economies that have differing levels of freedom. Economies HAVE to be nudged and prodded along a chosen path, reacting to the environment created by other economies. Fore example, America has to put in place various mechanisms to sustain its economy in light of competition from China and other emerging markets. American farmers and manufacturers seek protectionist measures to ensure their survival. Protectionism is not part of a free market economy; it could be argued that it is very socialist.
Taking this back into the realm of the healthcare debate, I think that peoples; scepticism is quite possibly based on their fear (thanks to politicians' skewed rhetoric) of words like "social healthcare". The "S" word means to them, Gulags, empty shelves, bleak, cold streets, a life stripped of colour and vibrancy... the old vision of Soviet Hell. And who wouldn't oppose something that conjures up such visions?