Capitalism vs. Socialism In Two Sentences

Capitalism is working great! Just look at all the jobs, homeownership, quality healthcare and…wait a second (huh? Highest unemployment in decades, same with foreclosure rates. Oh Shit)…sorry, nevermind.

If capitalism were just capitalism that would be one thing. Unfortunately, most of the working people in this country have less rights under the law than a nonliving entity – the corporation – and since those nonliving entities own Washington D.C. we have very little chance at ever getting those rights back without radical changes to our system. At least a capitalist/socialist hybrid, that allows private enterprise and private ownership but checks the power of corporate interest ensures education, healthcare and equal rights under the law for everyone – not just the elitist pigs that can afford it.

You’re right! TOTAL socialist healthcare might not be the answer. Who knows – it might be a pathetic, embarrassing failure just like capitalist healthcare (i.e. completely unregulated, corporatized and free to do the only thing corporations are ALLOWED to do: pursue greater and greater profits.)

Maybe the best thing that ever happened to those “elitist pigs” (and, by the way, I was using that term as a wink because of all the extremist redbaiting) is that working class people – the vast majority of the country – continue to wage this outdated ideological war with each other (liberals seeing the GOP rank-and-file as gun nuts and fascists, conservatives viewing liberals as wild-eyed Bolsheviks ready to nationalize the potato chips in their cupboards) while they get rich in the gap between us. Hence my opinion that a system that curtails corporate greed, shores up some of the inequities between the classes but MAINTAINS private and individual freedom might be a compromise that could allow us all to acknowledge we live in one country, not two, despite our cultural or philosophical differences. Of course extremists on both sides will continue to Satanize that idea of compromise, working people will keep busting our asses while our property values plummet and China gobbles up more of the planet’s resources, and the companies that own DC will continue raking in the profits until the bottom REALLY falls out.

You’re right! TOTAL socialist healthcare might not be the answer. Who knows – it might be a pathetic, embarrassing failure just like capitalist healthcare (i.e. completely unregulated, corporatized and free to do the only thing corporations are ALLOWED to do: pursue greater and greater profits.)

I know not of which capitalist health care you speak of because “completely unregulated, corporatized and free to do the only thing corporations are ALLOWED to do: pursue greater and greater profits” is not what the U.S. has had for many, many years.

Hence my opinion that a system that curtails corporate greed, shores up some of the inequities between the classes but MAINTAINS private and individual freedom might be a compromise that could allow us all to acknowledge we live in one country, not two, despite our cultural or philosophical differences.

It’s not a compromise at all. This is precisely what most conservatives want, yet liberals reject. We already have quite a lot of government intervention to “shores up some of the inequities between the classes.” We can stand to have less. Not that equality is bad, it’s just that the socialist means to achieve it are quite defective. And we already have quite a lot of regulation to “curtails corporate greed.” Perhaps we can stand to have somewhat different regulations, but the problem is to come up with ones that work well.

working people will keep busting our asses while our property values plummet

This cannot be helped. Property values were a bubble and won’t go up to their former levels again, unless it’s another economy busting bubble we want.