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The morality of the free market

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Bubbler, Apr 23, 2008.

  1. Twoback

    Twoback Active Member

    No. And neither has any physician -- which is why these two essential elements of our economy are consistently the most screwed-up.
     
  2. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    Many places in Europe have stopped it. And Russia, home to 145 million today, could be as low as 100 million by 2050. Population is aging, life expectancies are trending lower, and it has a scary female:male ratio (88:100).

    But third-world nations plus China plus India render all that moot.
     
  3. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Thank you, JG.
     
  4. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    In the business world, much of what happens is a fine line between right and wrong.

    Here is an excellent article on the bogus credit agencies like Moody's. They call it "gaming the system", and its an epidemic everywhere. The end results are rarely pretty.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/magazine/27Credit-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

    Everybody games the system in one way or another, from welfare queens to Joe Sixpack to corporate execs. The results are a mess.
     
  5. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    Where's Josef Stalin when you need him?
    Genocide for everyone!
     
  6. Bubbler

    Bubbler Well-Known Member

    Amen to that.

    And yes, I Knew Pallister was fucking with me.
     
  7. Stoney

    Stoney Well-Known Member

    Because, of course, the only alternative to a full-blown free market capitalistic system is a Soviet style Marxist one. There is no in-between.

    That's why all those countries like Sweden, Holland etc. that rank well above us in all quality of life indexes must have even more aggressively capitalistic systems than ours. Oh wait....
     
  8. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    The market is neither moral nor free.

    Only the young, the naive, the entitled and members of The Cult of The Invisible Hand believe that.

    Large multinational corporations will not solve the problem of food scarcity any more than they ended child poverty.
     
  9. Bubbler

    Bubbler Well-Known Member

    I know that JR, but that's the bullshit economists, etc., attempt to sell.
     
  10. PeteyPirate

    PeteyPirate Guest

    Do you think it's really possible for a system to be labeled as moral or immoral? Legislation may provide incentive or discouragement to commit certain acts, but ultimately it's only people that can make moral decisions.
     
  11. Yawn

    Yawn New Member

    Morality in the free market...hmm, let's consider the orthodox Jewish understanding of the role of industry as providing a service, therefore, being a servant to the public good. That should be the premise for free enterprise: servant above self. Hence, customer service as a priority in business. Now, today, it's not customer service but curtseying to the corporate handlers and a stock market system run by the haves, therefore, making the rich richer.
     
  12. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Capitalism is the only moral social system because it is the only system that respects the freedom of producers to think and the right of the individual to set his own goals and pursue his own happiness.

    It doesn't guarantee an egalitarian world or plentiful resources that gives everyone everything they want. It simply provides the opportunity to pursue goals in a way that no other economic system does -- in fact, every other economic system produces disincentives to innovate and subjugates individuals to the point that they have no incentive to pursue their own ideas of liberty and prosperity.

    Many of you are confusing "morality" with the fact that we live in a world of scarce resources, which inevitably means some people do not fare as well as others. That isn't the fault of any economic system. It is the fault of the hand we've been dealt. If you want to bitch about that, bitch to God, if you believe in one.
     
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