From: Tony Williams 

Gary Britt wrote:
>
> Gee its hard to respond to something so wrong.

Exactly my thought when composing my reply up-thread.

> 1.  No it doesn't hold true.
> Capitalism is based upon people busting their arses for their own
> self-interest.  Capitalism is what happens when a group of free people
> interact with each other.  Capitalism and personal individual freedom of
> action are two sides of the same coin.  Capitalism doesn't come with a ready
> made ruling class.  Rich people evolve by taking advantages of the
> opportunities capitalism/freedom provide.  Some people don't do well under
> capitalism because of something wrong with THEM not something wrong with
> capitalism.  In communism those same people also don't do well, they are
> just joined by the enforced slavery of everyone else.  Communism is nothing
> but a robbery of the masses liberty and property rights to benefit the tiny
> few who happen to be in control of the military force needed to maintain the
> enslavement of the population.

Again, swapping communism and capitalism in the above changes its veracity
not a whit.

You seem to be comparing some non-existent perfect implementation of
capitalism with a real-world implementation of communism. In practice
neither works in its pure form - or at best, that pure form is unachievable
in practice.

The best systems are a mixture of capitalist and socialist principles, as
is the case in both Europe, the US, and all the other western democracies.
We may disagree on the ideal ratio of the socialist/capitalist mix (as you
may have noticed I favour a greater degree of socialist policies such as
state welfare), but anyone who says that one system in its pure form is
perfect is a fool.

> I could keep going, but I'm just too amazed at how any sentient thinking
> being who otherwise professes to be in favor of liberty and freedom could
> make such a statement.

I'm interested in freedom and prosperity for everyone, not just the lucky
few who get an easy ride to power.

--
Tony

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