I do not dismiss recklessness or incompetence or fraud.
But when the government messes up, it's not capitalism's error.

[QUOTE=davar55;421825]I do not dismiss recklessness or incompetence or fraud.
But when the government messes up, it's not capitalism's error.[/QUOTE]

Capitalism is not a person or a god. Therefore it is not capable of committing errors nor is it incapable of possessing flaws. Capitalism is more like jury duty: it is a duty to use it well but is often misunderstood, misused and manipulated. The overriding consideration is that it is the best way we know to attempt or achieve several goals. However it is reckless in the extreme to not be aware of flaws.

Also, when a jeweller cuts a diamond, a primary consideration is how to cut the best gem possible regardless of what particular local flaws exist in the piece before him.

You aren't a jeweller, are you?

[QUOTE=only_human;421864]Capitalism is not a person or a god. Therefore it is not capable of committing errors nor is it incapable of possessing flaws. Capitalism is more like jury duty: it is a duty to use it well but is often misunderstood, misused and manipulated. The overriding consideration is that it is the best way we know to attempt or achieve several goals. However it is reckless in the extreme to not be aware of flaws.
Also, when a jeweler cuts a diamond, a primary consideration is how to cut the best gem possible regardless of what particular local flaws exist in the piece before him.
You aren't a jeweler, are you?[/QUOTE]

Nice post, in spite of reservations I have. Yes, capitalism as currently implemented
may have flaws in the sense that it is violated by those laws not in accord with those
principles that it is based on. I may not be a jeweler, but I know when a perfect gem
(capitalism)
is embedded in a poor setting (welfare statism and socialist leaning laws).
Capitalism and money take the blame for problems that it is not the cause of.

I can think of another system. It's called Perfect Altruism. No-one uses money or any other system of bartering. We all just work hard and look after our fellow human beings, expecting to be looked after equally by others in return.

Perfect Altruism is a perfect gem. Its aim is for all world citizens to live a comfortable, happy life, all of us being equal.

The fact that it would not work is not the fault of Perfect Altruism. It's the fault of the faulty implementation of it which greedy human beings would be guilty of.

[QUOTE=davar55;421891]Nice post, in spite of reservations I have. Yes, capitalism as currently implemented may have flaws in the sense that it is violated by those laws not in accord with those principles that it is based on. I may not be a jeweler, but I know when a perfect gem (capitalism) is embedded in a poor setting (welfare statism and socialist leaning laws). Capitalism and money take the blame for problems that it is not the cause of.[/QUOTE] Well, you go on then; enjoy your dreams of capitalism in Camelot or Heaven. Write a book or a thesis and then stand on it. Jump up and down a few times. Admire the elevation. Enjoy a cup of tea. Then come down and hang out with the rest of us.

[QUOTE=only_human;421899]Well, you go on then; enjoy your dreams of capitalism in Camelot or Heaven. Write a book or a thesis and then stand on it. Jump up and down a few times. Admire the elevation. Enjoy a cup of tea. Then come down and hang out with the rest of us.[/QUOTE]

What did you think I was doing? :smile:

Anyway, Camelot sounds nice again.

The US in 2016: No money for social programs, cash to burn for the military
 

[URL="http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/01/12/spen-j12.html"]The US government has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into into military programs like the F-35 fighter, while slashing assistance for the poor, homeless, and hungry.
[/URL]
[QUOTE]The US Navy’s “goals and objectives” outline for 2016, released last week, does not mince words: the first goal listed in the second subhead reads: “Buy more ships.”

And that is exactly what the world’s most powerful navy is doing. On Wednesday, the Defense Department announced it was moving forward with plans to replace its Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines, the most lethal killing machines in the history of mankind, with a completely new design beginning in 2021.

Each Ohio-class ballistic submarine is, by itself, the fifth most powerful military in the world. The Navy operates 14 of them. Each submarine carries 24 Trident II missiles, with each missile carrying eight warheads with a yield six times greater than the “little boy” bomb that killed over a hundred thousand people in the US bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=kladner;422352][URL="http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/01/12/spen-j12.html"]The US government has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into into military programs like the F-35 fighter, while slashing assistance for the poor, homeless, and hungry.
[/URL][/QUOTE]
We do protect the poor as well as everyone else by defending the U.S.

[QUOTE=davar55;422437]We do protect the poor as well as everyone else by defending the U.S.[/QUOTE]

It depends on what you mean by "protect" and "defending".

If you mean something along the lines of "ensuring the U.S.A.'s workers are ready to compete on the global economic playing field now and in the future", then [URL="https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#newwindow=1&q=US+education+ranking"]perhaps not[/URL]...

[QUOTE=chalsall;422447]It depends on what you mean by "protect" and "defending".

If you mean something along the lines of "ensuring the U.S.A.'s workers are ready to compete on the global economic playing field now and in the future", then [URL="https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#newwindow=1&q=US+education+ranking"]perhaps not[/URL]...[/QUOTE]
I grant you our educating needs improvement.

[QUOTE=davar55;422437]We do protect the poor as well as everyone else by defending the U.S.[/QUOTE]
It probably does not matter much if one is sick, starving, homeless, or any combination of these.