There's been a bit of pushback after Pope Francis' remarks on capitalism.
But he's not exactly the Lone Ranger. The TEA Party, for example, is not all that hot on typical American "capitalism", either.
Powerful business interests want to turn
the tide against Tea Party-like upstarts within the Republican Party and
return the GOP back to its traditional roots:
Doling out special favors to powerful business interests....
...This is surely a dystopian future these radical fiscal
conservatives paint, one in which lucrative transportation bills for which we
have no money receive additional scrutiny. One in which private businesses have
to finance their own imports and exports at market rates without the benefit of
your money. One in which Congress refuses to surrender United States
sovereignty to unnamed foreign courts.
And one in which businesses are denied immediate access to abundant
sources of dirt-cheap labor....
Rush is not always right, ya'know.
Then there's Pethokoukis:
“Conservatives — whether churchgoers or not — are not utopians,” writes AEI’s Jim Pethokoukis.
“They understand market economies will never turn the world temporal
into Paradise (while at the same time realizing that command-and-control
economies have frequently produced a kind of hell on earth).
Conservatives value the ‘safety net’ to help those whom the pope calls
the ‘excluded.’ But conservatives also want to reform the safety net so
more resources are devoted to raising the living standards of the truly
needy rather than subsidizing the rich, moving the jobless toward work
and self sufficiency, and increasing social mobility and equality of
opportunity.”
So yes, there is always room for thinking about capitalism's dark side. It would be nice if some folks actually thought, rather than simply opened their traps on national radio.
Crony Capitalism, liked by both R's and D's, is flat out wrong. Also, a Utopia is impossible for fallen man, because you can only reach it by killing those who disagree and resist your version of it. It quickly becomes murderous tyranny. Any attempt at one or another Utopia has pretty much always devolved into a blood bath.
ReplyDeleteThere is no such thing as crony capitalism, just capitalism.
ReplyDeleteThe inability to distinguish applied morality is the hallmark of the idiot, Anony.
ReplyDeleteDon't be hard on yourself, Dad29. 'Tis the season to be jolly!
ReplyDeleteCompanies simply act in their own self-interest. "Greed is good" is the epitome of the corporate mission through taxpayer dollars AND/OR
market competition.
Hence, crony capitalism does NOT exist.