“Why are we married to a word that was originated by communists?”
Frank Luntz is not the be all and end all. It may be a losing proposition at this point because the word has been beaten to death by both sides. However, I don’t believe that the word was originated by communists.
The only reference I have on hand right now is Wiki. But, you have to admit...if Wiki doesn’t say that the word was originated by communists, then it probably didn’t. If there was any inkling that it did, they would put it front and center.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism
And, who are you? Given your posts, one would think you are anti-capitalist.
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/by:paladinsprayer/index?tab=comments;brevity=full;options=no-change
Either that, or you are paranoid.
Here is a source if you’re interested: http://resurgence.opendemocracy.net/index.php/Capitalism
The source writes, “In 1850, Louis Blanc defined capitalism as “the appropriation of capital by some to the exclusion of others.” Proudhon later defined it as an “Economic and social regime in which capital, the source of income, does not generally belong to those who make it work through their labour.”
Perhaps we ought to keep in mind that free markets existed before the stupid word “capitalism” was applied to them, but obviously we were happy not calling them that.
We also should keep in mind that Adam Smith never used the word capitalism. It was unknown to him.