At 07:55 AM 17/07/2001 -0700, Technotranscendence wrote:
<big snip>
>It seems your analogy actually works against your convictions.
Hmmm. :-( This is why I kept reminding people that I am *not* against
capitalism -- I am just scared of people adhering to it as a religion.
"Capitalism alone will work... really it will. Have faith."
A quick response to your point of bank deregulation: The biggest disaster
in Australian banking was when our government of idiots swallowed that
propaganda about deregulation, hook line and sinker. They deregulated the
banks, and since then banking costs to the consumer have spiraled upward,
the banks have been closing local branches everywhere, and they have been
making record profits.
Yes, yes, you think I am saying "bad capitalism", but I ain't. :-)
Government was originally formed (if I remember my history correctly) to
give the population some way to control the powerful individuals (lords,
kings, and barons) that oppressed people. Of course, government can step
into those same nasty shoes and can be just as dangerous to the people.
Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. It doesn't matter
if that power is in the hands of government, or big companies, or powerful
individuals. It all comes to the same thing.
We have a new religion taking hold around the world at the moment that
convinces people to let the most powerful companies and individuals rule
the planet unopposed in the name of "market forces". People are
indoctrinated, perversely, to relinquish all control with faith that the
invisible hand of the market will balance all things. This, in the face of
innumerable examples of how out-of-control things can get under pure
capitalism. Heard of the town of the babies with no brains in Brazil? Union
Carbide's disasters in the third world? Nestles' nasty child murdering
campaign in Africa? Similar examples can be found of how crazy things get
when royalty or governments have too much power.
Until we find a natural way to stop money and power concentrating in just a
few hands, we can only work the powers against each other. Use government
as a brake upon big business and powerful individuals, bleeding money from
them to redistribute it to society at large. Use big business to criticise
and oppose government and royalty and do things more effectively where
possible. Use royalty to point out the abuses by government and big
business and sponsor humanitarian projects.
Things are not back and white -- there are many levels of grey.
Cheers,
- Miriam
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Q. What is the similarity between an elephant and a grape?
A. They are both purple... except for the elephant.
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http://werple.net.au/~miriam
http://members.optushome.com.au/miriame
Virtual Reality Association http://www.vr.org.au
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