I've been following this thread and see interesting and valid points as well as fairly decent arguments (although in my opinion short sighted- par for the course; but I'll get to that).
I see the argument for free capitalism as it (has the potential to) promote many good things such as cures, technology (with the intent) to free up time for which one might use for intellectual self fulfillment and well lets face it, just plain old fun with the family.
This is all good in theory of course, but for my part, what I see more of is the blind and seemingly obsessed pursuit of more and more and more$$$$$ in order to obtain a great many things that may be considered on a fundamental level (and I hate to be the one to preach morality and humility) shallow and decadent. Honestly people, weekly manicures and pedicures for the ladies (they have hands of their own don't they? That extra house (or two) on the river along with the big toy boat that doesn't feed anyone or make any money when it's not being used. Many of my contractor friends have sold those boats at a loss along with the riverfront property and even the fancy pad with the (100K in custom touches) right next to the golf course.
Truth is there is no profit to be made in CURING anything. But there is a lot of profit to be made in TREATING symptoms rather than identifying and eliminating causes(and thereby enacting a cure). There is no profit to be made from pouring all of our effort and resource into educating our children (and in theory creating a more civil and crime free society) because crime and the administration of "justice" is to profitable an industry. JUST AS IT IS IN THE ENERGY INDUSTRY. Ultimately, like it or not, capitalism places a dollar value on everything including every man, woman, and child.There are some who would go as far as to say that a capitalist who is a good moral christian is the answer but I just don't see the principles of capitalism, or economics in general walking hand in hand with the principles of the teachings of Jesus (at least as I perceive them and not necessarily as others might). I'll wait for the man to come down and do his own governing before I trust the interpretations of any one who claims to have the understanding of such things. Just another mouth piece to me. But, like forest said, "that's 'bout all I've got ta say 'bout that".[size=78%]I[/size]
t's nice while it lasts, but the fact of the matter is that there is only so much room at the top in a pyramidal system of power and finance. Sure, it's the American dream to strive for the top and to have all the fancy toys and so forth, but is it realistic. And those in power once corrupted, do not relinquish such power willingly.And yes, I know. This rhetoric does indeed cross into dangerous waters with notions that flirt with socialism. I am no advocate of this either. But when we live in a society where those who have reached the social economic apex have obtained so much power and influence in the form of finance and money (because most politicians have a breaking price) that they can control almost everything that one sees on TV or reads in the paper (which is, lets face it, the base of information upon which the great majority formulate their political and buying decisions as well as their perception of what the world is like outside of their home town); when they can use such wealth to coerce the decisions of lawmakers, judges, law enforcement, etc; have not a great many things gone wrong in the machine.
In theory, and when social conditioning in the form of religion, (unrealsitic) television, and schools that fail to teach objective analysis, reasoning and logic lose their fidelity and sell to us all the great American (but realistically shallow and unattainable ) Dream, it all seems beautiful and peachy. But to me, only to me I guess, it seems as though a great many things have gone sour.
I'm not talking about one sole administration or peoples personal moral issues. I'm talking about what we value and strive to attain and what amount of our souls we will are willing to sell (But again, another philosophical question subject to individual perception and relativity).
Case in point: Southern California for me, as a kid was wide open from Pomona all the way to the Arizona border. It was beautiful open country, high deserts where a teen could hunt and plink and fish to his hearts content. Further south towards Irvine and Laguna hills, one could hunt deer and cotton tail. In the 50s, my grandfather used to hunt deer not 15 minutes east of downtown Los Angeles.
Those were the days of my childhood. I left for the service at an unusually young age then went into the reserves for a while. I eventually went back to active duty and stayed gone for six years. My whole world had changed in that time. Many of my favorite spots were still accessible but the development was just starting. I was now seeing a great many people settling in places where I would at one time rarely see a soul during the week (when I was ditching school
).
Instead of completing my degree, and blinded by the good money in the concrete trade in which I was already a journeyman, I went to work nine and sometimes eleven shifts a week (I was younger and stronger and fresh out of the Navy) during the boom. I took my tuna trips and drove up to Kings Canyon every now and then but for some reason I just didn't see the raping and the plundering of which I was a part.
Today, the pristine Irvine meadows is all developed with housing tracts. Laguna and Anaheim hills which used to be open plains full of wild life is now custom million dollar homes, many of which are now unoccupied. You cannot drive from Pomona(25 minute East of LA) to The Arizona boarder without seeing some kind of development and the freeway is riddled with commercial billboards. All the natural access points into Desert Hot Springs are now closed off to the public as much of it is now privately owned by corporate interests.
There is still plenty of "recreational gold" in California as Hewell Houser would say. But it's all tourist ridden or elitist run, making access quit imposing for the average income family such as mine was back in the 70s and 80s.
I guess all I'm trying to get at is when the machine of progress and good economy is running full steam, at what point do we stop and say enough? Many of you in middle and rural America may feel secure on your acreage in the areas that you may think are untouchable for now. But I say to you that the appetite of capitalism for wealth power knows no limits.
And people as adults are no different than children when it comes to new toys that they may not actually need except to show off for the purpose of attaining a higher social rung than their neighbors. So what do we do? Just keep producing products that are no longer made to weather the test of time; but to wear out after a given time so that one must go out and buy another one thereby continuing the destructive production cycle.
I'm not saying that either one of the two political whores now being sold to us by the powers that be are going to fix anything. I'm just wondering just how many, if any of us really are capable of seeing whats to come down the road if everything was the way we (as individuals or as political parties) had our "cake and it it".
Maybe I was an Indian in a past life, I don't know. Always fancied myself as a sailor/[size=78%] [/size]
explorer though (but without the sheep and cabin boy thing 
).
