From: Arlo Bensinger (ajb102@psu.edu)
Date: Thu Jul 08 2004 - 20:16:35 BST
Platt wrote:
>Seems peculiar to me that many who condemn the immorality of the free
>enterprise system
When did this happen? Did I miss something? Who said free markets are immoral?
> for its focus on materialism get all bent out of shape
>by the fact that everyone doesn't share equally in material things.
Again, who said this? I certainly am not arguing that all things (material
or otherwise) must be equally shared, only that the sharing is more
equitable, and regards labor as people and not as objects. As I've said to
Dan, I have no problem with wages being matched to labor activities.
Certainly someone who is a master welder should earn a greater wage for
her/his labor as someone working a cash register at McDonald's. My argument
is against the purposeful fostering and maintenance of poverty in areas so
that capitalists have access to "practically" slave labor, and how this is
a necessary component of modern capitalism.
I have no problem, nor find in it any moral dilemma, for some to have more
than others. In a fair system, people would have access to the means to
determine their own wages (through schooling and effort in the
marketplace). But it is not a fair system, despite the corporate-driven
propaganda, and the current system thus favors exploitation in order to
improve profit margins for a very few.
You seem to have the belief that nothing can exist except modern capitalism
and eastern-bloc socialism, and since I am critical of the alienating
aspects of modern capitalism, I must then certainly be in favor of an
eastern-bloc regime. I just do not understand this, but will assume that's
they way you have your world divided.
> Does
>anyone see a pesky contradiction here?
I don't. Only when the argument is twisted back to "if you criticize
capitalism you must be a socialist/communist/whatever", which is what you
are doing.
>Such inconsistency is neatly summed up by the phrase, "limousine
>liberals," an apt description if there ever was one for the democrat
>candidates now running for president and vice president of the U.S. :-)
I prefer my Harley to a limousine, but I see here this neatly dichtomized
view of things you espouse in the capitalism/socialism argument.
>Best,
>Platt
Arlo
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