(October 23, 2011 at 12:17 pm)DeistPaladin Wrote: 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%.
You are a minority in the world of business owners. I too, when I owned my own businesses, tried very hard to run them fair and society minded. The problem i faced was those other businesses who i had to deal with would shake my hand with one hand and slip a dagger into my back with the other.
I am willing to make compromises of sorts, seeing that hind sight is 20/20.
I am willing to let capitalism exist, but under these conditions:
#1 - The IMMEDIATE abolishment of usury and the clearing of all past usury on all current contracts.
#2 - The abolishment of all tax loopholes for those who play and trade on the stock market.
#3 - The banning of Derivative stocks and contracts.
Thats a good start.
