Plantagenet wrote:onlooker wrote: You can't exonerate the excesses of Capitalism simply by saying it works better than Socialiams or Communism.
No one seeks to "exonerate" the excesses of Capitalism. There's even a joke that goes Capitalism is the worst possible economic system....except for the others.
No you all are not exonerating them , you are just ignoring them.onlooker wrote:
You have to define also what "better" means. Is Capitalism highly efficient to convert resources to commodities and sell them for a profit? Yes exceedingly so. But for the purpose of this discussion we have to concede the "failings" of Capitalism. It produces highly unequal and unjust results.
Not necessarily. Look at the Capitalist countries of the EU and Scandinavia. Income distribution there is far less unequal then in the US, largely because (1) tax rates on the rich are higher then in the US and (2) The populations are mostly less diverse and the pockets of extreme poverty we see in the US in inner cities and poor rural areas don't exist there----at least not on the large scales seen in the US
The point is to compare the 20% or so of rich world people who consume 80% or so of resources with the converse ie. the third world.onlooker wrote: Capitalism also has been highly destructive to the Environment and does not account for this. It simply labels this destruction as "externalities" and they are not accounted for or viewed as a negative in any ledger or accounting process.
That just isn't true. All the major environmental movements and environmental legislation had their origin in Capitalist countries, and have been most successful in wealthy Capitalist countries. Far from "not being accounted for in a ledger" the Capitalist west invented a very basic Capitalist approach to pollution and even global warming.....and that is to fine polluters and tax polluters. The Carbon tax for example....a Capitalist idea.....is our best hope of reducing CO2 emissions.
Oh c'mon, the Carbon tax has been a joke so far. they have found loopholes and ways around that. And what movements they're have been have been created and instigated for by the people and NGO's to force politicians to act. Not the Corporationsonlooker wrote:The owners of Capital have shown no restraint in their exploitation of Nature
That just isn't true. There are thousands of environmental laws and regulations in the US and EU that restrict what the rich can do. Yes, some of them break the laws, but that doesn't change the fact that there are restraints on what the rich can do to exploit nature.
Cheers!
Ibon wrote:I have a specific question for KJ.
Would you agree that strengthening social services is one of the key components to prevent socialism and to keep capitalism resilient.
KaiserJeep wrote:Ibon, I CAN say with a high degree of confidence that so-called "social services" have been used for decades to suppress and oppress Blacks in America's inner cities.
KaiserJeep wrote:
I have a queation for you. Do your workers call you "El Jefe"? The literal meaning is "the boss", but since the time of Fidel Castro, there has been a subtext, and "El Jefe" is covertly despised, a term of mild contempt. It usually means they are rolling eyes behind your back as you walk away.
KaiserJeep wrote: In fact the only "successes" one can point to are the Scandahoovian countries that layer outright social liberalism and do-goodism all over Capitalist revenue streams and high taxation. That's not so much establishing socialism as "good" as it is victimizing the wealthy to achieve some questionable social goals.
There is a new top ranking country, Finland, but the top ten positions are held by the same countries as in the last two years, although with some swapping of places. Four different countries have held top spot in the four most recent reports- Denmark, Switzerland, Norway and now Finland.
Ibon wrote:I always thought what killed Obamacare was the fact that it was a ineffective compromise from the beginning because of pressure from lobbyists from pharmaceutical and medical providers. I never thought that maybe unconsciously many Americans saw it as an extension of welfare to blacks. KJ's response to my question made me wonder?
Any opinions?
http://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2018/0 ... s-high-jhathe overriding reason for our out-of-whack costs is the exorbitant price tag attached to everything from doctors' time to prostatectomies to brand-name drugs. Not extra or wasted care. Not red tape or a half-dozen other frequently blamed factors.
Pops wrote:My personal opinion is colored by my adult life having been controlled by the pre-existing conditions exclusion. The US pays double and our care is half as effective as any modern economy. And there is one reason, providers charge what they want and the consumer is captive; pay the freight or get off the bus.http://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2018/0 ... s-high-jhathe overriding reason for our out-of-whack costs is the exorbitant price tag attached to everything from doctors' time to prostatectomies to brand-name drugs. Not extra or wasted care. Not red tape or a half-dozen other frequently blamed factors.
Cog wrote: Individual choices are eliminated in favor of some mythical public good.
Cog wrote:Good for the swedes and Canadians. I'm not either. I'm an American. Dislike and distrust of governmental control is hard wired in my genes so to speak.
The American Medical Association (AMA) will today announce that after conducting an exhaustive analysis on the proposed acquisition of Aetna by CVS Heath, the nation’s largest physicians' organization urges regulators to block the merger. The AMA position is based on evidence indicating the merger’s likely anticompetitive effects on Medicare Part D, pharmacy benefit management services, health insurance, retail pharmacy, and specialty pharmacy.
Cog wrote:Just like the comments upstream about how much CEO's are paid relative to the other workers in a corporation. For one thing its only the business of the corporate board what the compensation of CEO's is and shareholders can throw the board out by voting their shares if they don't like the set-up.
Cog wrote:Good for the swedes and Canadians. I'm not either. I'm an American. Dislike and distrust of governmental control is hard wired in my genes so to speak.
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