From: Brian D Williams (talon57@well.com)
Date: Fri Jun 16 2000 - 09:56:31 MDT
From: "altamira" <altamira@ecpi.com>
>I can't claim to have visited many 3rd world countries, but I've
>spent some time in Mexico. I've noticed 2 major causes of poverty
>there. One is the Catholic church which discourages the use of
>contraceptives and abortion. The second is the behavior of people
>who hold positions of power in various governmental and corporate
>entities.
Unfortunately in a country with a bad government, a poor economic
system, and high infant mortality having many children may be the
only answer to having someone to care for you in your old age.
>When you buy bananas at the grocery store, odds are they came from
>land that was once occupied by people who grew enough food, fiber,
>and fuel crops on the land to take care of themselves. Business
>corporations, acting in conjunction with the Mexican (and
>sometimes the U.S.) government, took over the land and gave the
>people who'd been using it the option of leaving or staying there
>and working for the corporation at very low wages, which they
>would use to buy exorbitantly priced food at the grocery store
>(likely also owned by the corporation). The more self-respecting
>of the disposssed peasants go to seek their fortunes in the city.
>The lucky ones have friends in the U.S. who can help them find
>work (if they can make it safely across the border and get past
>the check points). Others live on the outskirts of cities such as
>Mexico D.F.
>This is the ugly side of capitalism. If I'm not mistaken, the
>term capitalism describes an economic system, not a political
>system. Capitalism can be practised under conditions of anarchy
>(I'm using the word in the sense of a situation where no person or
>group of persons has a legal right to initiate force against
>another person or group)or under the guidance of a totalitarian
>dictatorship. At present, the U.S. form of capitalism appears to
>be what's known as fascism where, on the surface, individual
>people appear to own "the means of production" but where their
>ownership is severely limited and the actual control lies with a
>small elite--in this case, your group of people who hold positions
>of power in certain governmental and corporate entities.
Excuse me, this is most certainly NOT a defination of Fascism. You
are confusing government corruption and the actions of greedy
people, with capitalism.
Some have used abused capitalist inventions like the corporation,
and were met by another capitalist invention, the trade union.
These people then tried (often successfully) to get the government
to limit these groups. Others have used pure capitalist means to
successfully avoid unions. (Unions are a result of bad management)
What kind of government you have will determine what kind of
economic system you have. Capitalism is an economic system, NOT a
form of government.
Brian
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