-Caveat Lector-
Ric Carter wrote:
T'ain't so. Capitalism is about acquiring and manipulating
CAPITAL, about owning and controlling the means of production
of material goods. Capitalism is thus about POWER. In
any non-trivial society, many conflicting interests will
contend for power, resources, influence; a representative
gov't serves as the lubrication between those interest, a
way for the social "machinery" to run without seizing-up
and melting-down. How well any specific gov't institutions
serves that purpose, is debatable.
MJ:
Capitalism is the social system based upon private ownership of
the means of production which entails a completely uncontrolled
and unregulated economy where all property is privately owned.
Ric Carter wrote:
What is the basis for this statement?
MJ:
Reality?
Ric Carter wrote:
If the US founders accepted this view ["completely uncontrolled
and unregulated economy"], why did they empower Congress to
regulate commerce?
MJ:
To ensure free trade between the several States.
Ric Carter wrote:
Can you name any viable society that hasn't regulated
commerce?
MJ:
Nope, hence the absence of a capitalist society in all of history.
Ric Carter wrote:
Doesn't unregulated commerce lead to monopoly/cartel
and/or drug-lord-style competition?
[I use 'commerce' as a shorthand term for any commercial
activity.]
MJ:
Two types of monopoly: Coercive requires government; Natural
which is desired but has never existed.
As long as ENTRY into the marketplace is unencumbered, no monopoly
is possible. It is government and their 'tinkering' which creates
advantage to some over others and prevents access.
MJ:
But the separation of the state and the economy is not a primary,
it is only an aspect of the premise that capitalism is based
upon: individual rights. Capitalism is the only politico-economic
system based on the doctrine of individual rights. This means
that capitalism recognizes that each and every person is the
owner of his own life, and has the right to live his life in
any manner he chooses as long as he does not violate the rights
of others.
As demonstrated in the previous example no government intervention
is required; but more specifically, once the government steps in,
capitalism ceases.
Ric Carter wrote:
Does the concept of the primacy of "individual rights" preclude
any individuals from joining in free association, incorporating
as groups to engage in commercial, charitable, governmental or
other activities?
MJ:
Within the Natural Rights Ideal [see the Declaration of
Independence], a group can posses no ADDITIONAL rights than
each of its members.
Ric Carter wrote:
Do corporations [public or private] have more, equal or less
rights than individuals?
MJ:
A Corporation is an entity created by the Government and as such
has the FORCE of government to ensure its privileges.
Ric Carter wrote:
In a representative democracy, who is the protector of individual
and corporate rights?
MJ:
In a democracy, there is no 'protection of individual rights' as
everything is subject to the whim of the majority. The US was
envisioned and Constitutionalized as a Representative Republic
which granted specific functions to its government -- all of which
serve the legitimate functions of government.
Ric Carter wrote:
Shall a society form and empower a gov't to represent the
varied interests of members of that society, to mediate
between conflicting interests, to adjudge and protect the
rights of those members? Isn't this what the US Constitution
is about?
MJ:
No. The US Government was to 'mediate' between the several
States and other nations ... ensuring protection of all from
force and fraud (see the individual powers in Article I,
Section 8).
Ric Carter wrote:
IMHO proclaiming that individuals have absolute rights
over groups is as bogus and dangerous as proclaiming
that groups have absolute rights over individuals. A
viable, vibrant society requires mechanisms for balancing
the interests/rights/responsibilities of all its members,
individuals and groups alike.
MJ:
An individual [see the DoI] has a right to his own life. All
other rights are borne from this basic ideal. For a government
to provide this 'balance' between individual rights and groups
of individuals' rights serves only to provide some with a
legislated advantage over others.
Ric Carter wrote:
The mechanisms: gov't & law. Yup, this equates to POWER.
Strip our representative gov't of power, and where will
it flow? Into which nonrepresentative institutions would
you invest power? Do private, commercial, corporate boards
of directors consider your interests when making their plans?
Should they?
MJ:
Government derives its legitimate functions as a collective
application of an individual's right to his own life: the
defense of that life. It is in each individual that the power
should be 'invested'.
Regard$,
--MJ
Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like
fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment
should it be left to irresponsible action. -- George Washington
The fundamental source of all your errors, sophisms, and false
reasonings, is a total ignorance of the natural rights of mankind.
Were you once to become acquainted with these, you could never
entertain a thought, that all men are not, by nature, entitled
to a parity of privileges. You would be convinced, that natural
liberty is a gift of the beneficent Creator, to the whole human
race; and that civil liberty is founded in that; and cannot be
wrested from any people, without the most manifest violation of
justice. Civil liberty is only natural liberty, modified and
secured by the sanctions of civil society. It is not a thing,
in its own nature, precarious and dependent on human will and
caprice; but it is conformable to the constitution of man, as
well as necessary to the well-being of society.
-- Alexander Hamilton, "The Farmer Refuted,"
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