[TheOracle]

Would you say that without government, you could not have capitalism?

I would. Here are a couple definitions I found at www.dictionary.com:

An economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development is proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market.

an economic system based on private ownership of capital

I don't know how you properly define private ownership outside a legal framework of rules, and I don't know how you properly enforce the rules outside a legitimate representative government.

[tonyinv]

An economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development is proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market. an economic system based on private ownership of capital

I dont see here were government comes in.

I don't know how you properly define private ownership outside a legal framework of rules, and I don't know how you properly enforce the rules outside a legitimate representative government.

Isn't ownership defined by posession? I dont need governemnt to sanction that fact that I own something, do I?

Don't get me wrong, I understand that today government has so intruded that indeed it probably does, through taxes and such, but is that right?

[StriperSniper]

I don't know how you properly enforce the rules outside a legitimate representative government.

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[Ronaldus Magnus]

All of these things flow from the existence of predictable rights enforceable by the government.

I don't know how you properly define private ownership outside a legal framework of rules

Capitalism is an economic system which does not definitionally require government involvement. State-to-state transactions are examples of capitalistic trade where there is no over riding legal authority. It is true that undesirable effects such as monopoly, repression, and theft may occur without regulatory oversight, but that does not negate the capitalistic framework. I agree that state power may make capitalistic transactions more safe and predictable, but it is not a requirement.