All human beings have basic needs and complex needs. Doing what it takes to meet and satisfy those needs encompasses the spirit of capitalism. Whether through hard work and utilizing the "proper channels", whatever they may be according to the societal norms at that particular time in history, or through cunning and guile and even crime, humans practice capitalism.
The socialist experiment of the USSR failed because humans are human. It failed because the Soviet Socialist Republic practiced avid capitalism on the world markets, and in the black and gray markets that operated within its society.
Those that argue against welfare and entitlement programs, programs that strip humans of their incentives, have some merit to their arguments. However, holding those positions, they necessarily must be in favor of anti-trust legislation, labor laws, and higher wages, the lack of which also strips humans of their incentives. For, such a state doesn't resemble the free market capitalism they profess to hold in such high esteem anymore than the socialist state they profess to oppose.
Many, many years ago I attended a lecture by William Kunstler at Wesleyan. The one thing I remember from that lecture is Mr. Kunstler's emphatic statement that all healthy people desire to work and achieve.
One thing that is lost in the current politics of the day, is that because of wage stagnation coupled with drastically increased productivity which has led to a drastic increase in the concentration of wealth in the hands of fewer and fewer humans, some of the many working people must use "entitlement" programs, to "subsidize" their income, to satisfy their basic needs. And those that work and cannot satisfy their basic needs are stripped of their incentive.
Florida, a decidedly Red state under Republican Governor Scott, according to the numbers, has hardly recovered from the Great Recession. Florida's real unemployment rate is 11%. The number of people without health insurance is at 25.8%. And the foreclosure rate is among the highest in the nation. The few pockets of economic health in the state have Democratic leadership.
The socialist experiment of the USSR failed because humans are human. It failed because the Soviet Socialist Republic practiced avid capitalism on the world markets, and in the black and gray markets that operated within its society.
Those that argue against welfare and entitlement programs, programs that strip humans of their incentives, have some merit to their arguments. However, holding those positions, they necessarily must be in favor of anti-trust legislation, labor laws, and higher wages, the lack of which also strips humans of their incentives. For, such a state doesn't resemble the free market capitalism they profess to hold in such high esteem anymore than the socialist state they profess to oppose.
Many, many years ago I attended a lecture by William Kunstler at Wesleyan. The one thing I remember from that lecture is Mr. Kunstler's emphatic statement that all healthy people desire to work and achieve.
One thing that is lost in the current politics of the day, is that because of wage stagnation coupled with drastically increased productivity which has led to a drastic increase in the concentration of wealth in the hands of fewer and fewer humans, some of the many working people must use "entitlement" programs, to "subsidize" their income, to satisfy their basic needs. And those that work and cannot satisfy their basic needs are stripped of their incentive.
Florida, a decidedly Red state under Republican Governor Scott, according to the numbers, has hardly recovered from the Great Recession. Florida's real unemployment rate is 11%. The number of people without health insurance is at 25.8%. And the foreclosure rate is among the highest in the nation. The few pockets of economic health in the state have Democratic leadership.
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