This is a great little 3-paragraph piece that sums up nicely some of the problems and questions I've had lately.
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I'm sure that there are some principled free-marketeers out there (mostly libertarians who have disattached themselves in many ways from the GOP) who ARE objecting to the bailouts and the government intervention, but mostly I think we've got free-market conservatives who **** government intervention when it involves regulations or restrictions of any kind (such as environmental or labor regulations, or limiting just how big and crazy out-of-control the corporate behemoths can get), but when those same corporations have problems then they feel it's the government's "responsibility" to bail them out. Corporate welfare and socialism for corporations (but not individual people). Interesting.
Of course, there will be some who will claim that government interventions have created these corporate disasters, so it only stands to reason that the govt. should bail their asses out. Sorry, I ain't buying that.
I'll only buy that one if those same people will buy that Stalinism and other totalitarian, undemocratic permutations of "communism" represented true socialism and the actual ideas of Marx and also the vast majority of today's democratic socialists.
Maybe we HAVEN'T had the truest form of free-market capitalism, ok. But seeing the awful excesses and inhuman(e) results of even the more "restrained" forms, I have to say that I'll just count my blessings.
Commence insult-hurling, flaming, and cries of "dirty hippy", "America-hating Commie" etc.
:glugglug:
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I'm sure that there are some principled free-marketeers out there (mostly libertarians who have disattached themselves in many ways from the GOP) who ARE objecting to the bailouts and the government intervention, but mostly I think we've got free-market conservatives who **** government intervention when it involves regulations or restrictions of any kind (such as environmental or labor regulations, or limiting just how big and crazy out-of-control the corporate behemoths can get), but when those same corporations have problems then they feel it's the government's "responsibility" to bail them out. Corporate welfare and socialism for corporations (but not individual people). Interesting.
Of course, there will be some who will claim that government interventions have created these corporate disasters, so it only stands to reason that the govt. should bail their asses out. Sorry, I ain't buying that.
I'll only buy that one if those same people will buy that Stalinism and other totalitarian, undemocratic permutations of "communism" represented true socialism and the actual ideas of Marx and also the vast majority of today's democratic socialists.
Maybe we HAVEN'T had the truest form of free-market capitalism, ok. But seeing the awful excesses and inhuman(e) results of even the more "restrained" forms, I have to say that I'll just count my blessings.
Commence insult-hurling, flaming, and cries of "dirty hippy", "America-hating Commie" etc.
:glugglug:
