The People's Analysis

I have found that some of the most coherent analysis of social, historical, and economic conditions in the US comes from unpaid writers.


From MO:

"Newsflash dips. Free markets are ruthless. If our markets were truly free, trust me, you wouldn't be talking so highly of them. Ever see a Lion maul something in the serengeti? Now tell me, would you want to play with a lion in its natural habitat? Of course you want a cage around that lion if you're going to go anywhere near it.

The bottom line is that none of you are anything compared to the big shots in the world who have money, brains, and networks of friends you can only dream about.

Most of you are currently indentured servants who owe a quarter or more of your lifetimes earnings to a bank in the form of a house, car, and education. You owe this money inside a system that is designed to funnel more money up to the top, to those big shots I mentioned. The system is made so that when you want to enjoy your success in the form of a home, you pay extra to the rich for that right, and when you want to improve your life in form of an education, you pay extra to the rich for that right.

In the current system you will be devalued due to your economic starting point, regardless of your talent you will be devalued by the simple fact of not being rich already. And should you have extraordinary talent, you will be required by mechanisms in the system to help make the rich richer before you are allowed to join the rich.

And that is a tiny minority that will ever make it to the top like that as most will either luck into it or inherit it.

The bottom line is that capitalism as a truly "free" market would be barbaric, because even as it stands right now, it is unfair.

Now, go forth and keep making that money for the man."


From CA:

"Reading the comments in this post make me think I have landed in lala land with people who neither understand economics or history. Totally free markets result in only one thing 1% of the population owning everything and 99% as their servants or slaves. This is the ultimate conclusion of all free markets and can be observed in certain Asian countries in all of its glory today. Free markets do not encourage growth or innovation, as those who own everything refuse to invest in anything that will not make them richer. Only through regulation is the wealth of a free market forced out of the clutches of the very rich and powerful. The amount of regulation determines how fairly that wealth is spread and how secure the overall economy will be. Teddy Roosevelt and his distant cousin FDR made exactly the right decisions, even though they themselves did not benefit from those decisions. Both Teddy and FDR were among the filthy rich. Without those decisions America would not exist as it does today. America would be a backward third world country still struggling to get out of the mire. Most people I know who want free markets are just looking for the government to get out of the way so they can rape someone else. These people are greedy and amoral, in that they are only concerned about themselves and are willing to do anything to get theirs. That is going back to the mire, not moving ahead. If you really want that type of society, then you need to look at moving to some of those aforementioned Asian countries, and stop calling yourselves Americans."

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/flowchart/2008/9/30/4-myths-about-free-markets--and-their-demise/comments/