capitalism is a Government Program

ABC This Week | 1/13/2002 | George Will

[tonyinv]

George Will just uttered the most absurd statement I've ever heard. He said (paraphrasing)

"Rebpublicans need to understand that capitalism is complex web of laws and regulations" and further "that capitalism is a government program"

I knew George Will wasn't exactly a conservative, but this is unbelievable.

[tonyinv]

You don't need government sanction, you need government protection.

I have my own protections.

There are plenty of examples of where the people are not "protected" by the government.

[Askel5]

The use of capitalism as an organizing principle for society and as moral system is a Government program.

[Praxeologue]

You don't need government sanction, you need government protection

We would all agree with this.

Saying that "Capitalism is a government program", though is not only wrong, but Marxian.

[Praxeologue]

The use of capitalism as an organizing principle for society and as moral system is a Government program

That's what Marx said it was. Will, it is claimed, said essentially the same thing.

Capitalism is not "a moral system", but a natural product of laws based on our religious beliefs.

[monday]

I really don't know what George Will meant, but he might have been referring to the original 19th century meaning of Capitalism which is the accummulation of the means of production. (tools, equipment) These days capital intensive businesses like utilities, railroads, even airlines, rarely make a return on investment better than what you could make with a savings account. If they do make a better ROI it is because they have made greater use of what is driving the economy today and that is information. At any rate I dislike the use of the word Capitalism to describe our current economic system which includes concepts as diverse as free trade, financial markets, and information systems, and where capital plays only a small supporting role.

[monday]

"I don't know how you properly enforce the rules outside a legitimate representative government. .38 .357 .44 etc."

LOL.... this is what Russia has right now. There are no civil courts, so any broken contracts are enforced with a gun. There are so many businessmen killed each week in Russia that the police don't even bother to investigate once it becomes clear it is a contract killing. Sound like fun?

[ppaul]

Capitalism - as practiced in the US - is a government program.

[TopQuark]

I knew George Will wasn't exactly a conservative, but this is unbelievable. I'll let you judge whether Will is exactly a conservative, but this is something taken from an a conversation. It sounds to me that he may have omitted the word "also." The sentence "that capitalism is [also] a government program" would seem correct to me if it means, as supported by the context, that the government has to strengthen the institution of capitalism.

Are you blowing up a building because there is a mouse in it?

[rdb3]

That's an interesting angle.

[Askel5]

Capitalism has nothing to do with morality.

It is logical but there is nothing "moral" about capitalism to save it from its fatal flaws ... rabid individualism and the centralization -- merger & acquisition -- that not only obliterates respect for the individual (the "masses" we've been slashing) but the "free enterprise" of all but those most closely connected to the Central Planners ... de facto state corporations.

Capitalism -- like socialism -- is an economic and therefor purely materialistic construct. Nothing "moral" about it. It's simply more just than socialism, that's all.

[weikel]

Capitalism depends on a government strong enough to keep some law and order and enforce the validity of contracts. That being siad the government should just step back and let the market decide.

[Ronaldus Magnus]

You don't need government sanction, you need government protection.

Government protection of trade is a luxury much of the world has never known. My company has done business in many areas where the local or federal government was the greatest THREAT to fair and safe capitalistic transaction. We, as Americans, don't seem to understand that many people can't just "tattle to Mommy" when someone does them wrong. In those parts of the world trade needs to be supported not by the threat of government intervention but by clear mutual benefit, the hope of future transactions, and if necessary, independent force. Believe it or not, capitalism can happen outside of the graces of government regulation. It is not a government program.

[tonyinv]

No, he said those words. It struck me as obscene. I agree that government has a regulatory/enforcement roll, but only becuase we as a society deem it so. It's "by the consent of the governed" isn't it? Didn't the principles of capitalism and free markets exist before government?

[weikel]

Still dissing capitalism this is a conservative forum their are plenty of liberal forums where you can go preach the people's revolution.

[weikel]

Capitalism is the most moral economic system it leaves each individual free to plot his own economic destiny.

[Ronaldus Magnus]

this is what Russia has right now. There are no civil courts, so any broken contracts are enforced with a gun...Sound like fun?

Been there, done that (business in former Soviet Republics, not killing anyone). It wasn't fun, it was even a little scary, but it was capitalism.

[TheOracle]

Saying that "Capitalism is a government program", though is not only wrong, but Marxian.

I think some are getting hung up on the phrase "government program"; I wouldn't be surprised if Will used it as a dig at liberals. I don't think he meant "hand-out", which is the goal of many social programs and perhaps what people are responding to. Providing a legal framework for capitalism is (or should be) a government program in the same way that national defense is (or should be) a government program. I don't think an idea is automatically Marxist just because it uses the phrase.

[TopQuark]

No, he said those words. It struck me as obscene. I agree that government has a regulatory/enforcement roll, but only becuase we as a society deem it so. It's "by the consent of the governed" isn't it? Didn't the principles of capitalism and free markets exist before government? The question of the origin of the power vested in the government is outside the issue. Once the government is in place, it has an obligation to create and pass laws. If someone, as Will appears to do, suggests that these laws ought to strengthen capitalism, he appears to agree with r than diverge from your views. This is a conservative statement.

I also suggested, more tactdully at first, that you are not being fair: you are holding someone reposnsible for every word said in a heated discussion. G. Will has decades-long record of writing. If you want to judge him, use that as your basis.

[weikel]

Yes but even if you do buisness in unsafe unstable portions of the world you still need a relatively safe & stable base of operations.

[tonyinv]

I wish I had the transcript. Taken in full context, its actually worse. They were speaknig about Enron, and Will started out by saying something about how Republicans need to worry about how it looks for big business and political connections and stuff. Made my blood boil. It was sick.

I suspect Rush will be all over this tommorrow.