utility@quiche.cs.mcgill.ca (Ronald BODKIN) (01/17/90)
In article <101@zds-ux.UUCP> gerry@zds-ux.UUCP (Gerry Gleason) writes: >Is it that capitalism has been eroded, or that capitalism has eroded >the liberty and democracy that are the true legacy of our constitution >and Declaration of Independance? I see no real world evidence to >prove that such erosion or freedom and special interest warfare is >not guaranteed to happen with a capitalist system, just as many claim >Marxism implies restrictive dictatorship. I don't think it is anything like capitalism that has done this. The overwhelming evidence suggests that all the breaches in individual liberty have come from people trying to obtain political advantage by seizing some paternalistic/redistributionist program and implementingit. It is not reasonable to say that now capitalism has broken down to a large extent and that people have special interest warfare in the resulting decline in firm , effective government begun to seek out government favours, that therefore since some businessmen are involved in the mad dash, that capitalism eroded liberty. Since capitalism is the system of individual freedom, if IT erodes liberty (and BTW democracy is NOT especially a strong tradition of the constitution -- although Hamilton was disappointed with the amount that was allowed in) then there is no way for people to be free in a nation. This is a very sad prospect. But I don't buy it in the least. >No, that doesn't follow. Why can't I claim both forms are bankrupt? >I already said it doesn't matter what type of conspiracy it is. In that case you are still going to be trapped doing nothing. > Are yousaying that all we need is to "fix" capitalism? Maybe, >but I claim that any system that concentrates power in a small elite >group is headed for trouble. By "fix" capitalism, I mean restore individual liberties and freedoms (including economic freedom -- which is part of individual freedom). And so long as economic power does not translate into condign power (which generally happens through government involvement) there is little to worry about. Then again, to fix up American society, you would first need to educate people -- you can't build on the mass of confusion currently out there. America has thrown away Christianity (correctly) but adopted Materialism (foolishly) as its new dominant philosophy. Capitalism is poorly served by this -- and by this I mean the people themselves suffer. Ron