I don't want to get rid of capitalism.

[cali]

I just want it regulated properly. I don't want government running every industry. I think it's a piss poor idea. And sorry, I don't have any illusions about the superior character of "the workers". All I want is some equity for the working classes and meaningful reform so that the rich can't screw the rest of us with impunity.

And if that's not revolutionary enough, too bad.

[leftofthedial]

1. I think we agree. Although, I believe that "regulated properly"

means to turn it into a form of socialism.

[Pharaoh]

8. They made socialism a dirty word

just like they did with liberals.

Wake up sheeple, socialism takes care of it's people. The only reason it fails is because the capitalists keep crushing it.

[JVS]

2. Capitalism will never be properly regulated. The rich will use their influence to remove...

regulations whenever it suits them.

[Cleita]

4. It was before Reagan came in and started de-regulating and union

busting. We can roll back all those changes made back to the Jimmy Carter administration for a start.

[JVS]

9. Then they will simply repeat Reagan's work

[BlooInBloo]

18. We're doomed.

[Cleita]

21. No, this time we will have learned our lessons from that era, I hope, and

put in the fail safes that will prevent a repeat of history.

[BlooInBloo]

32. Probably not, since that was done in the '30s, and subsequently dismantled...

But that doesn't mean we don't keep trying.

There's no system that's immune to human evil - despite what the leftier-than-thous seem to think.

[Pharaoh]

3. It needs regulation and oversight

and socialism for the necessity's of life and human dignity

[Jackpine Radical]

5. Socialism doesn't require that government run everything.

Essentially it amounts to keeping monopolies out of private hands, and limiting the size of corporations so they can't become monopolies.

[Cleita]

22. Exactly and there are social democracies that are running just fine, like

Sweden, and they have a capitalistic economy.

[lutherj]

6. I just want to shrink it down small enough to where I can drag it into

the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.

[leftstreet]

10. ROFL

Good one!

[leftofthedial]

13. I'd rather drown it in the toilet

but that's because I'm an artist.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

7. Certain industries should be nationalized though

Like energy and health care.

[glowing]

11. And utilities.. The govt built it and sold it off..

[cali]

12. I agree with that- to an extent.

Certainly I support single payer health care. And some parts of the Energy Industry could be socialized. But it's something I'd want to look at really carefully.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

20. We already subsidize the crap out of most forms of it.

Why let private companies profit?

It'll never happen though.

[Confusious]

35. Anything with a monopoly

Should be socialized. Energy plants, telephone, sewer, water, education. Health care doesn't fit into that, but I don't think you can take advantage of life, liberty and happiness without it these days.

[Warpy]

14. Soften that regulated capitalism with enough socialism

and it will work very well. It has in western Europe, for instance.

I'm certainly not in favor of any pure system. No pure economic system will work until the human race becomes equally pure.

[killbotfactory]

15. I want a few simple things

I want food, shelter, education, healthcare, the basic necessities required to sustain human life IOW, to be established as rights.

I want every business that gets a government subsidy to be turned into a cooperative or lose that subsidy.

I want every business that's "too big to fail" to be broken up and turned over to democratic control.

If our system of capitalism is incapable of doing these things, then to hell with it.

[Pharaoh]

33. I'm with you!

Pure simple and to the point :toast:

[seemslikeadream]

16. But Then It Was Too Late

They Thought They Were Free - Read by Dave Emory


The Germans, 1933-45

Excerpt from pages 166-73 of "They Thought They Were Free" First published in 1955

By Milton Mayer

But Then It Was Too Late

"What no one seemed to notice," said a colleague of mine, a philologist, "was the ever widening gap, after 1933, between the government and the people. Just think how very wide this gap was to begin with, here in Germany. And it became always wider. You know, it doesn’t make people close to their government to be told that this is a people’s government, a true democracy, or to be enrolled in civilian defense, or even to vote. All this has little, really nothing, to do with knowing one is governing.

"What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to being governed by surprise; to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if the people could understand it, it could not be released because of national security. And their sense of identification with Hitler, their trust in him, made it easier to widen this gap and reassured those who would otherwise have worried about it.

....

"Yes," I said.

"You see," my colleague went on, "one doesn’t see exactly where or how to move. Believe me, this is true. Each act, each occasion, is worse than the last, but only a little worse. You wait for the next and the next. You wait for one great shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, THE SHOCK DOCTRINE will join with you in resisting somehow. You don’t want to act, or even talk, alone; you don’t want to ‘go out of your way to make trouble.’ Why not?—Well, you are not in the habit of doing it. And it is not just fear, fear of standing alone, that restrains you; it is also genuine uncertainty.

"Uncertainty is a very important factor, and, instead of decreasing as time goes on, it grows. Outside, in the streets, in the general community, ‘everyone’ is happy. One hears no protest, and certainly sees none. You know, in France or Italy there would be slogans against the government painted on walls and fences; in Germany, outside the great cities, perhaps, there is not even this. In the university community, in your own community, you speak privately to your colleagues, some of whom certainly feel as you do; but what do they say? They say, ‘It’s not so bad’ or ‘You’re seeing things’ or ‘You’re an alarmist.’



Michael Parenti - Terrorism, Globalism & Conspiracy

"Coincidence Theory: By sheer chance things just happen repeatedly and coincidentally to benefit their interests without any conscious connivance by them, which is most uncanny. There is also: Stupidity Theory, Innocence Theory, Momentary Aberration Theory, Incompetence Theory, Unintended Consequences Theory and Innocent Cultural Proclivities Theory."

- Michael Parenti

[BlooInBloo]

17. Don't let the leftier-than-thous get you down.

[IndianaGreen]

19. What you know about socialism is what the capitalist have told you about it

Capitalism must die so that we can all live!

[endarkenment]

23. Whatever you want to call the current 'system' - it stinks

and it needs to go. Regulating systemic corruption is not going to be effective. Putting a fresh coat of paint over it will not change anything.

Regulated properly, which in my opinion means sweeping change, drastic reform, is unlikely to happen. See what just happened in the Senate. They are going down with the ship and intend to obstruct everything.

[On the Road]

24. Well Said

I don't want to get all my products and services from the equivalent of the DMV.

The GOP had the White House for 20 of the last 28 years, and the last two Democratic presidents were on the free market side of the party. The regulatory apparatus has not only been disassembled, it has been discredited in the minds of many people who should know better.

No need to simply put everything back in place. I don't interstate trucking rates, long distance, or commercial airline rates need to be regulated any longer. The philosophy has to be rebuilt. It needs a public discussion of what the differing goals are and what are acceptable methods to get there.

For the general public, this crisis is a teaching moment.

[leftstreet]

25. Apparently you have "illusions about the superior character" of the elites

[cali]

31. nope. I think basic human nature doesn't differ very much from class to class

and how anything I wrote in the OP can be interpreted as you did, is a wonder of illogic.

[tabbycat31]

26. Thom Hartmann says it best

He compares capitalism to a football game, and government regulators to the refs in the game. The game of football has rules, and the refs are there to enforce the rules.

[rug]

27. I don't want to get rid of cancer. I just want it regulated properly.

[leeroysphitz]

28. Nice. n/t

[el_bryanto]

30. Not sure that works.

Unless you believe Capitalism to be as corrosive as Cancer; but even if you believed that, you'd have to be aware that other people don't agree with your assessment, right?

[rug]

36. Yes, I read that in the newspapers. Who owns them?

[el_bryanto]

37. Ooooh good comeback

I guess it does save a lot of time if you just assume everybody who disagrees with you is brainwashed by the capitalist media.

[scarletwoman]

38. Well regulated parasitic infestations are ever so preferable to no parasitic infestation at all.

At least you will never be alone.

[el_bryanto]

29. That sounds about right to me too

Use Governmental Solutions to fix problems that require them; otherwise use capitalism.

Obviously there are some areas, like healthcare, that have a bit too much capitalism.

Bryant

[SOS]

34. We lost free enterprise a long time ago

We live in an oligarchy.
Not as bad as Russia, but we're getting there.