> Kevin wrote: > Unfair competition is unfair. Fair competition is fine. > > > > 2.) Believes that government is the best solution to most social problems. > > It's not a bad solution. Grass roots (neighbors, non-profits, > churches, etc) are good too but because of their circle of influence > > Nobody wants to be on the dole, but sometimes companies like Enron > just fuck you over. >
I've found a few liberals! That being said you make a few good points; the best probably being the concept of market failure. For all of the good that the market does, it can and does fail and that's where gov't should step in. For example, "externalities" occur when costs of production aren't priced by the market and so aren't considered during consumption. A good example is power plant emissions: there's a reasonable expectation that this has a cost to society, but it's not factored into the energy price. HOWEVER! I don't think Enron is a case of that. Enron was simply a case of bad men behaving badly and they should be no different that any other grifter: they should be identified, captured, and punished. And, while government can do good, it's mostly responsible for bad (in human history) because it's essentially unregulated. The genius of capitalism is that it takes a fundamentally negative trait of human nature, greed, and turns it into a wealth building mechanism. Government also has greed but no market forces to keep it in check. There is a certain point of power which, once crossed, forever corrupts those in government. I'm not certain where that point is for the USA, but I'd say we're as close now as we've ever been: which is why you see religion becoming a factor in politics. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Purchase Studio MX with Flash Pro from House of Fusion, a Macromedia Authorized Affiliate and support the CF community. http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=51 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:152059 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
