A few points first up...Firstly: where is you guysÆ sense of humour; canÆt you tell when a tongue is nudging a cheek? Judging by the hysterical tone in some cases, anyone would think that you seriously believed that Cap + Alt was in danger of being closed down or ÆcensoredÆ.
Secondly: this is a moderated discussion group, and judging by the quantity, immediacy, and vehemence of replies, it really does confirm to me that a disproportionate amount of McSpotlightÆs human and technical resources must be being spent on ÆCapitalism and the AlternativesÆ*.
Thirdly: bad language has its place, but IÆm sure it looks a little embarrassing when you wake up in the morning and find it all over your McSpotlight post for the whole WWWorld to see.
But perhaps I should clarify a couple of points made in the original post (which admittedly was typed out under the influence of more than a thimbleful of AustraliaÆs finest).
When I speak of ÆCapitalismÆ IÆm using the term in the broadest possible sense.
Some people seem to believe that Capitalism only came into being about in the last century, during the Industrial Revolution.
So are you saying that the owner of an Arab trading dhow plying the high seas X000 years B.C. was not a classic ÆcapitalistÆ? That the skipper, navigator and helmsman, with their skills, were not an early form of æmanagementÆ? That the men swabbing the decks and hauling on the sheets were not æworkersÆ? Or that the merchants who bought textiles from these ships were not ÆmiddlemenÆ who then sold the goods on to early æconsumersÆ?
Or remember Jesus throwing the merchants (with some justification) out of the temple? Were they not classic æFree MarketeersÆ simply taking their businesses where the action was?
Perhaps the term æCapitalismÆ is a misnomer; maybe it should be thought of (since Cap+Alt is a domain of æismsÆ) as æMeritocracismÆ, a principle that underlies almost everything right down to the basics of Evolution and Mother Nature i.e. Æthe survival of the fittestÆ.
So yes, if you like, I am saying that Capitalism is an outcome of natural laws.
Who decides that someone is more creative/smarter; who has more opportunites/a better education etc?
Who, to graze in hamburger territory for a moment (be nice if people actually mentioned hamburgers/McDÆs on Cap+Alt occasionally), decides that a particular cow is born in India where she is considered sacred, while her close relative is born in a McDonaldÆs feed lot, while another close relative is born in the wild where she not only lives on the edge of starvation, but also has her calves eaten by predators.
Basically, itÆs the luck of the draw; and itÆs tough. (By way of a reply re. musicians etc., there have been countless pianists and ÆwrittersÆ whose parents havenÆt bought them æfucking pianos or paperÆ and taught them to write or play. In fact many great musicians and writers have come from very poor backgrounds indeed.)
Yes, as humans, we do have more control over our destinies than our fellow creatures, but show me a total system in action (not some self-congratulatory commune in the Californian countryside*), that actually gives you and all of us more control than we have right now in the democratic, free enterprise countries in which we live.
If there is an alternative to Capitalism, whereÆs the proof? Human civilisation has been around for decades, and as of 1997, there donÆt seem to be any countries in the world that have embraced any viable alternative.
Anarch/Marx/Commun/etc./ism have all been run up the flagpole at one time or another and have failed dismally.
Evolution in action perhaps?
*For those at Cap. + Alt. who seem to be humorously impaired, an asterisk denotes that the preceding sentence, phrase or paragraph is an attempt at humour. (Look under ÆHÆ in the dictionary.)
