A very long and interesting article

[aeroegnr]

I've had this article for quite some time, and I find it to reflect greatly on the current political situation in America.

The article was written in 1938 by Garet Garrett

http://www.rooseveltmyth.com/docs/The_Revolution_Was.html

Take some time, read it, and let me know what you think or if you even care.

 

[selfAdjoint]

Well it shows where you are coming from anyway. My own view is that Roosevelt saved capitalism in the USA by some very clever maneuvering and the application of Keynesian economics. Had he not done this, if he had continued the precious theories of government and economics, the 1936 election would have brought a much more radical administation, perhaps even one that called itself socialist (Upton Sinclair, maybe?). The US had to evolve or break, and the Roosevelt administration was like a safewty valve. Of course the troglodites didn't like it, but they're always with us, and they never do.

The upshot was, capitalism is now stronger than ever.

 

[aeroegnr]

The upshot was, capitalism is now stronger than ever.

It is?

Try running your own bank, we now have the Fed that controls everything to do with money.
Try starting a medical practice with house calls or that is open on the weekend, I guarantee you'll get jumped on from all directions and different acronym agencies.
Try saving money yourself for your own retirement, all the while getting drained by the government for social security, because people are incapable of saving for themselves.
Try paying or providing education for your own child yourself, all the while paying money into a system you do not use or support.
Try marketing a drug, and spend a fraction of a billion dollars to jump through the hoops that FDA makes.
Try running a manufacturing company, and find that you have limits to how low you can set the wages, because the union is so entrenched to discourage competition.

The appearance of capitalism remains, but unfortunately the spirit is gone.

 

[wasteofo2]

The appearance of capitalism remains, but unfortunately the spirit is gone.

I agree, we need to go back to 1910 style Capitalism, true capitalism, where the government didn't meddle in people's lives.

Today, try to get 5 year olds to work in a Coal Mine for pennies a day, the government will be all over you before they finish their first month of work.

Try to get away with having unsafe working conditions that save you money but hurt your employees, the government will take your ass to court in a second.

Hell, you can't even have effective Monopolies anymore!

What has our society come to, where today the government even enforces a minimum wage? Not only that, but workers now have unions which negotiate fair treatment/wages, what kind of pinko fantasy land are we living in?!

Protecting the working class? Caring for the people? I don't know how that sounds to you, but you sure as hell didn't hear any of that crap from Adam Smith! No my friends, protecting the working class/the people is rhetoric straight out of the Communist Manifesto, and as a true Capitalist, I find these ideals despicable!

 

[Gokul43201]

Sarcasm will be the downfall of you, wo2.

 

[aeroegnr]

Today, try to get 5 year olds to work in a Coal Mine for pennies a day, the government will be all over you before they finish their first month of work.

Today, where we have to rely on coal power because power companies can't afford the regulations impinging on nuclear power, when coal power kills tens of thousands a year. The most civilized place in the world in this regard is France, who generates the vast majority of its power from nuclear fuel. Today, there is also a much quicker public backlash from poor working conditions that would stop harsh business practices.

Try to get away with having unsafe working conditions that save you money but hurt your employees, the government will take your ass to court in a second.

I doubt that people will let that happen any way with the twitchiness of lawyers and courts.

Hell, you can't even have effective Monopolies anymore!

Since when did we stop having monopolies?

What has our society come to, where today the government even enforces a minimum wage?

At the same time when people are scared of losing jobs because other people from foreign countries are working in much worse conditions than anywhere in the U.S., and glad to do it for less? And running up the public dept to support those that don't have work, ignoring the fact that sooner or later, that debt is going to hurt?

 

[member 5645]

Sarcasm will be the downfall of you, wo2.

seconded...

 

[Aquamarine]

I agree, we need to go back to 1910 style Capitalism, true capitalism, where the government didn't meddle in people's lives.

Today, try to get 5 year olds to work in a Coal Mine for pennies a day, the government will be all over you before they finish their first month of work.

Try to get away with having unsafe working conditions that save you money but hurt your employees, the government will take your ass to court in a second.

Hell, you can't even have effective Monopolies anymore!

What has our society come to, where today the government even enforces a minimum wage? Not only that, but workers now have unions which negotiate fair treatment/wages, what kind of pinko fantasy land are we living in?!

Protecting the working class? Caring for the people? I don't know how that sounds to you, but you sure as hell didn't hear any of that crap from Adam Smith! No my friends, protecting the working class/the people is rhetoric straight out of the Communist Manifesto, and as a true Capitalist, I find these ideals despicable!

Yes, child labor, low pay, long working hours and dangerous working conditions existed in the period following the capitalistic revolution. But the comparison should be made to period before that, a period when population growth was regulated through starvation and disease. The capitalistic revolution in agriculture and industry made it possible for almost all people to survive, but in the beginning at price of the above.

The reduction in working hour, the part of life in work and working conditions have been due to capitalism, not from socialistic reductions in capitalism. The primary mechanisms have been increased wealth/capita and competition for the workers among the capitalists.