Posted on 12/12/2011 4:37:51 AM PST by SeekAndFind
President Obama, progressive politicians, Occupy protestors, and leftist intellectuals are having a field day attacking what they call the failures and excesses of capitalism. They declare wealth to be prima facie evidence of perfidy, making no distinction as to how it was obtained. They preach equality, not just in opportunity but in economic outcome. In their eyes, all members of the 1% are already guilty, so economic justice demands that the rich be heavily taxed, not just to lift others up, but to bring them down.
Some defenders of capitalism draw a sharp distinction between those who obtained their wealth through government favors and those who created their wealth by satisfying willing customers through free exchange. The former are called Crony Capitalists. The latter, interestingly enough, don't have a name. Let's call them Market Capitalists.
If defenders of capitalism hope to win over fair-minded fellow citizens who are honestly upset and confused, we need to define these terms and answer some basic questions. In what ways are Crony Capitalists and Market Capitalists the same and in what ways are they different? What makes the former immoral and the latter virtuous? Why are Crony Capitalists a threat to democracy and prosperity while Market Capitalists are essential to both? How is it that ever larger numbers of Market Capitalists are being corrupted, turning into Crony Capitalists? And what can we do to reverse that trend?
All capitalism is driven by greed - the desire to not only achieve economic security, but to amass pools of capital beyond one's basic needs. This capital can fuel the kind of conspicuous consumption that offends egalitarians. But it also finances investments in new products and businesses, without which the economy cannot grow. More on that later.
What makes Crony Capitalists different is their willingness to use the coercive powers of government to gain an advantage they could not earn in the market.
What makes Crony Capitalists different is their willingness to use the coercive powers of government to gain an advantage they could not earn in the market. This can come in the form of regulations that favor them while hindering competitors, laws that restrict entry into their markets, and government-sponsored cartels that fix prices, grant monopolies, or both.
Crony Capitalists are also more than happy to help themselves to money from the public treasury. This can come from wasteful or unnecessary spending programs that turn government into a captive customer, subsidies that flow directly into their coffers, or mandates that force consumers to buy their products.
Examples abound. Heavily regulated industries attract and breed Crony Capitalists, who are highly skilled at capturing the agencies intended to regulate them. Banking and healthcare top the list.
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Crony capitialism is simply is socialism in a three-piece business suit.
How is it that ever larger numbers of Market Capitalists are being corrupted, turning into Crony Capitalists? And what can we do to reverse that trend?
Government keeps growing and as a result has more opportunity to prostitute it’s self to crony capitalists. The fix is simple. Cut government’s size and scope.
Thorough and timely.
The government effort to abolish monopolies resulted in the ‘unintended consequence’ of heavy regulation for the common good.
Thereafter, every industry and enterprise was subject to government interference. The executive Branch and Congress realized that the engine of capitalism could be controlled and its wealth confiscated by the sheer threat of regulatory power. Socialism in a baby stroller.
Thorough and timely.
The government effort to abolish monopolies (for the common good) resulted in the ‘unintended consequence’ of heavy regulation where the Federal government had no authority.
Thereafter, every industry and enterprise was subject to Federal interference. The executive Branch and Congress realized that the engine of capitalism could be controlled and its wealth confiscated by the sheer threat of regulatory power. Socialism in a baby stroller.
If you wany a thorough explanation of Crony Capitalism, check out Cong. Thad McCotter’s book, SEIZE FREEDOM. He does an excellent job comparing it with the “Sevile State” put forth by Chesterton and Belloc in the early 20th century.
PS: Once you read the book, you’ll see how badly the Republican party missed the boat on McCotter’s Presidential candidacy. Smarter than Newt,(that’s right) more Conservative than Newt, NO BAGGAGE!
Socialists made the term up. (RINOS or useful idiots or philosophically challenged people using it are not your friend)
“Everything about socialism is sham and affectation.” - 23.11 Ch23; Evil; Economic Harmonies; Frederic Bastiat 1801-1850
Crony Capitalism,wonder if they mean like Pelosi and H Clinton doing insider trading?.
It’s not the role of government to pick winners and losers in the marketplace and the U.S. taxpayer is not a venture capitalist. That’s why the Commerce Dept should be shut down and things like “trade missions” eliminated.
If we are not to be hypocrites, we conservatives need to abandon our most favored status for our favorite crony capitalists - the NFL team owners, and other various sports franchises that intimidate or bribe government officials into paying for their venues with taxpayer money.
And that includes getting rid of state subsidies for so-called “state” universities that field major league sports teams.
When McCotter dropped out - he endorsed Mitt Romney!!!!!!!
duh!
Every aspect of our lives are/is controlled by some ‘authority’.
It has crept up on us; i.e.
Gated communities and HOA despots. House paint, gardens and amenity use.
Local planning commissions. Garbage recycling. School assignments.
County supervisors. Private property/Land use. Property tax.
State Legislators. Auto Insurance. Income tax.
Federal dictators. Everything else.
Yeah, we’re the frog that they are boiling, but what does that have to do crony capitalism?
“Socialism is a system where the government directly owns and manages businesses. Corporatism is a system where businesses are nominally in private hands, but are in fact controlled by the government.”
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul665.html
I don’t remember - trying to count my soda cans for recycling. Hard to multi-task under such pressure;)
Capitalism is broken now. Corporations have figured out a way to get around the free economy. Where I work, we are being forced to work tons of overtime for free. Since we are salary and Pittsburgh is not exactly brimming with IT jobs. Also we get no comp time and little to no raises. Why would a company hire new workers when they get ten hours plus per week from an average worker?
In other words, Fascism.
“I don’t remember - trying to count my soda cans for recycling. Hard to multi-task under such pressure;)”
Yeah, I once tried to post while I was walking and chewing gum.
Crony capitalism is fascism. It is not really capitalism at all being that capitalism is dependent upon a free market. Fascism (crony capitalism) is a market that is intertwined with political forces (government, courts, activists, etc…). A free market operates upon basic free market principles (supply and demand, private ownership, free trade, etc…) whereas a fascist market operates upon political agendas (regulation, political causes, political principles, etc…) with ownership even being mixed at times (public and private).
The green movement is a perfect example of fascism (crony capitalism) because it seeks to have the market operate purely based upon a political agenda instead of free market principles. It also relies heavily on having politicians picking the winners and losers in a market and relies on taxpayers to become part owners of businesses.
The left-wing progressive movement is basically a mish-mash of differing fascist movements (green, gay, unions, welfare, etc…) all combining together.
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