Midknight Review -- new and revised: Capitalism defined and "greed" is given context.

Update: the reason for posting these definitions came to me as I watched the morning news and saw the blank expressions on the faces of the young demonstrators when asked, "If you hate capitalism so much, with what will you replace it?" Again, nothing but blank stares. Also, understand that capitalism is a systemic aspect of the United States, written into and protected by the Constitution. We cannot move from a free market system to a socialist system without tearing this country apart. Also, we must know the existence of social programs does not make this country a "socialist system." We added free education for children through the age of 18 without being branded "socialist." Ditto Social Security. True, we have to pay into Social Security, but we earn a benefit, and it is different for each citizen, AND, the citizenry can add to their retirement without penalty. I am 66. I can work as many hours as I want without it effecting my S.S. income. But Obama Care is vastly different. It is designed to drive or force the population into the governmental health program. That is why employer fines are cheaper than the cost of employer shared costs. If 50 or 60 percent of the population leaves private coverage and moves into government programs, private insurance coverage will be no more. As the law is written, with the passage of time, I will have no choice but to buy this product from the government. That is socialism. And . . . .

if this law stands, it sets THE legal precedent for government control of all aspects of our lives.

As this old carpenter sees it, incrementalism is the enemy of European style socialism. Why? Because it gives time to incorporate the particular social program into a privatized, free market, economic system that demands individual responsibility and a work ethic that is the world's envy. From the very beginning, Obama has said, "Time for talk is over, time for action is here." We now know that this applies to his plan to "fundamentally, fundamentally, fundamentally transform the United States of the America. " Why is it that ObamaCare was not about taking care of the 15% of this country who are not insured? Why is it that Obama refused to allow market pressure to reduce the growth of medical insurance costs? Why is he FORCING those who are young and have no health problems to join the system rather than taking out a catastrophic insurance policy of some sort? Short answer? Because he wants this to be the beginning of a European style socialist system that provides the individual with a cradle to the grave form of governance. In fact, he has used those very words to describe his intentions. When Obama says, ". . . . . time for action is now," he is telling the world, "to hell with incrementalism. Now is the time to finish off what we started 5 or 6 decades ago."

Capitalism defined: the shorter definition is this - an economic system in which capital is privately held. Decisions as to pricing, supply versus demand, research and development and investment expenditure are driven, in a primary sense, by private, non-government individuals and entities. Manifest greed occurs at all levels, but especially at the corporate level.

Socialism defined: a political and economic theory of that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the government. In America, "private ownership" is transcended via governmental the regulatory and taxation processes and unionized control, while physical ownership is held by private entities. Manifest greed occurs at all levels of governance, whether in the ranks of the government administrators or within the ranks of union leadership.

Communism defined: a political and economic theory that finds the government as owner of all phases of production and distribution. Greed is the reward paid to government leadership. There are no unions that exercise any serious influence.

Capitalism is the economy of a free people. Socialism is the economy of a controlled people. Communism is the economy of the wealthy class over the common man. Individual freedom is not a concern to the communist.

The Stated Nonsense from the Left now includes these Progressive goals:

July 2, 2008, Obama had this to say: "We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."

MICHELLE OBAMA: "Barack knows that we are going to have to make sacrifices; we are going to have to change our conversation; we're going to have to change our traditions, our history; we're going to have to move into a different place as a nation."

“ . . . . . . they have become a generation of activists possessed with that most American of ideas – that people who love their country can change it.” -- Obama the Radical

On September 30, Van Jones told MSNBC "I think everybody should hold onto your seats. October is going to be the turning point when it comes to the progressive fight back."

1 comment:

stripmallpaulOctober 4, 2011 at 9:30 PM
An important term that should be defined when talking about the American economy is USURY. The great disparity of wealth in America is due to usury and capital gains. If these young people who are gathering in cities all over the country were a little better educated or a little better informed they may realize that the true evil in our economy is usury and capital gains not capitalism.

USURY defined: the practice of charging excessive, unreasonably high, and often illegal interest rates on loans.

Capital Gains: a profit that results from investments into a capital asset, such as stocks, bonds or real estate, which exceeds the purchase price. It is the difference between a higher selling price and a lower purchase price, resulting in a financial gain for the investor.

Capital Gains are taxed at a significantly discounted rate (compared to earned income) in the US resulting in investors making money from money and paying less income tax than someone who actually creates something like a CAPITALIST.