As a businessman myself, I'm proud of what I do, what other good businesspersons do and what capitalism, if properly regulated, does. We manage scarce resources and maximize the wealth of society. The "if properly regulated" is the key. One of the first principles of organizational behavior I learned in business school is to be careful what you reward because you will get it.
It's important to have a sober view of corporations, what they will do and what they won't. They are soulless machines with a simple directive to maximize the bottom line. They will not protect the environment, they will not protect worker's rights and they will not restrain themselves from forming monopolies. It takes government regulation to do any of these things.
As our government is based on a balance of power between the separate branches, our economy needs to be based on a balance between government, business and unions. Regulations need to ensure that the bottom line that rewards corporations and drives their decisions will drive them to do what is good for society.
The failure of our economic system, turning democratic regulated capitalism into corporate welfare and quasi-fascism, is this romanticized idea that the free market will take care of everything and "government is the problem". We need to return to the pre-80s policies of regulation and fair taxation of the wealthy so capitalism can work for everyone, not just the top 1%.
It's important to have a sober view of corporations, what they will do and what they won't. They are soulless machines with a simple directive to maximize the bottom line. They will not protect the environment, they will not protect worker's rights and they will not restrain themselves from forming monopolies. It takes government regulation to do any of these things.
As our government is based on a balance of power between the separate branches, our economy needs to be based on a balance between government, business and unions. Regulations need to ensure that the bottom line that rewards corporations and drives their decisions will drive them to do what is good for society.
The failure of our economic system, turning democratic regulated capitalism into corporate welfare and quasi-fascism, is this romanticized idea that the free market will take care of everything and "government is the problem". We need to return to the pre-80s policies of regulation and fair taxation of the wealthy so capitalism can work for everyone, not just the top 1%.
Atheist Forums Hall of Shame:
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
