This reflects our continued embrace of capitalism with the bottom line always being the priority. It's probably true for most American corporations. Many of us, especially those of us who are retired, are probably invested in these corporations through our mutual funds, if not directly with stocks. We are all culpable for these kinds of …
This reflects our continued embrace of capitalism with the bottom line always being the priority. It's probably true for most American corporations. Many of us, especially those of us who are retired, are probably invested in these corporations through our mutual funds, if not directly with stocks. We are all culpable for these kinds of anti-human, anti-climate change stances, if we are benefiting from their capitalistic efforts. As long as consumerism reigns, and profit is the ultimate motive, what has been revealed here, although unsurprising, will be the case. As a society we would need to change how our economy functions radically, before this kind of thing isn't the 'norm'. At the very least, we would need to change our goal from "growth" to sustainable and we need an overhaul of our taxation policies.
I have a really good fable that I developed about the birth of Capitalism. It was one of the evil things that developed after Adam and Eve were tossed out of Eden and why the first "recorded" murder took place. Cain slew Abel because he was jealous Abel was doing better. Flash forward through Milennia and plenty more have died as economics drove wars, colonialism, slavery, poverty, religious dogma,and oppression, etc.
Greed after all is named as one of the 7 deadly sins. Greed is the driver of Capitalism. AT&T is a great example of both.
And have any of those alternatives lasted longer than a decade?
Socialism works on a modified basis but even that seems to work best in countries with a monoculture.
Socialism requires a great deal of societal trust and most multiethnic societies lack that.
Capitalism works because it is personally beneficial to the individual and it's scalable. It does NOT require everyone to be rational long term. It doesn't even require everyone to believe in the system.
It is based on our worst instincts. That's WHY it works.
Any successful replacement would need that but most of the suggested replacements require true believers who lean toward sainthood.
What I think works better is breaking up monopolies and making natural monopolies like utilities into highly regulated entities.
Monopolies kill successful capitalism and we've known that since at least Adam Smith. And they concentrate wealth and political power into fewer hands.
I repeat, poorly regulated capitalism is a rigged game. A major responsibility of government is to protect its citizens from the wolves of Wall Street and soulless corporations and the political clout of their money. When conservatives decry “too much regulation”, what they really mean is that “We want a rigged game.”
Thanks for the tip. I know there are several people who've been offering alternative ways to organize economies that are much more fair, and far less destructive.
This reflects our continued embrace of capitalism with the bottom line always being the priority. It's probably true for most American corporations. Many of us, especially those of us who are retired, are probably invested in these corporations through our mutual funds, if not directly with stocks. We are all culpable for these kinds of anti-human, anti-climate change stances, if we are benefiting from their capitalistic efforts. As long as consumerism reigns, and profit is the ultimate motive, what has been revealed here, although unsurprising, will be the case. As a society we would need to change how our economy functions radically, before this kind of thing isn't the 'norm'. At the very least, we would need to change our goal from "growth" to sustainable and we need an overhaul of our taxation policies.
Yes, yes, yes & finally... yes! You, J.Nol are entirely, absolutely correct.
Shout it from the roof-tops dammit!
I have a really good fable that I developed about the birth of Capitalism. It was one of the evil things that developed after Adam and Eve were tossed out of Eden and why the first "recorded" murder took place. Cain slew Abel because he was jealous Abel was doing better. Flash forward through Milennia and plenty more have died as economics drove wars, colonialism, slavery, poverty, religious dogma,and oppression, etc.
Greed after all is named as one of the 7 deadly sins. Greed is the driver of Capitalism. AT&T is a great example of both.
And have any of those alternatives lasted longer than a decade?
Socialism works on a modified basis but even that seems to work best in countries with a monoculture.
Socialism requires a great deal of societal trust and most multiethnic societies lack that.
Capitalism works because it is personally beneficial to the individual and it's scalable. It does NOT require everyone to be rational long term. It doesn't even require everyone to believe in the system.
It is based on our worst instincts. That's WHY it works.
Any successful replacement would need that but most of the suggested replacements require true believers who lean toward sainthood.
What I think works better is breaking up monopolies and making natural monopolies like utilities into highly regulated entities.
Monopolies kill successful capitalism and we've known that since at least Adam Smith. And they concentrate wealth and political power into fewer hands.
I repeat, poorly regulated capitalism is a rigged game. A major responsibility of government is to protect its citizens from the wolves of Wall Street and soulless corporations and the political clout of their money. When conservatives decry “too much regulation”, what they really mean is that “We want a rigged game.”
Precisely.
We should have as a country learned that lesson after the 1880s -- the 1920s -- the 1980s and 2008.
Apparently, tens of millions of voters are not good learners else the 2024 elections would not be close.
I think author Jack Ewing has some good ideas. “Read Monkeys Are Made of Chocolate”.
Thanks for the tip. I know there are several people who've been offering alternative ways to organize economies that are much more fair, and far less destructive.