Posted on 01/13/2012 6:14:08 PM PST by VinL
Furthermore, making a profit is only one component of owning a business. Whatever happened to the idea that you are responsible for your workers and to the larger community? Too often, people feel like just pawns in a ‘game’ of ever increasing largesse for the top dogs. The big shots are always the winners – often getting payouts in the millions when their companies fail — and the “losers” are left to figure out how to eat or buy clothes for their children. (A new study found that $100 million “golden parachutes” have become commonplace for failed CEOs).
Romney’s “class envy” claim is predicated on a lie we often here from the uber-rich and their defenders: the highest goal and achievement for Americans is to be wealthy, when all most people want is to be able to provide a decent lives for their families…
The unlikely hero in this tale has been Newt Gingrich, who has been making the most coherent argument for ethical capitalism. Says Gingrich, what we want is, “a free enterprise system that is honest. . . fair to everyone and gives everyone an equal opportunity to pursue happiness.” Criticizing Romney’s brand of free enterprise, (Newt)said, “It’s not fine if the person who is rich manipulates the system, gets away with all the cash and leaves behind the human beings.”
Be still my heart.
(Excerpt) Read more at hotair.com ...
You think only Christians have a moral system or code of ethics??? What an extraordinary view!
Well, you called it VinL.
150 additional posts, and no one has answered the questions in post 128.
Nonsense. What has made America exceptional is the Rule of Law, respect for property rights, and the ability of the individual to keep most of the fruits of his labor. What is detroying this country is government that is redistributing wealth by taking from one group and giving it to another, i.e., the welfare state. We have strayed from the original vision of our Founders and the Constitution.
We have established a culture of dependency on government and the belief that one has the right to food, shelter, medical care, etc. just by being alive. The welfare state is collapsing because government can no longer fulfill the promises it has made. The EU and the US are bankrupt or near bankruptcy. The chickens are coming home to roost.
Huh? I was making precisely the opposite point.
...We’re in a war folks. It’s as dirty as it gets and as deadly as any. We have to win our country back and we don’t get there by attacking capitalism. No matter how you slice or dress it, that’s what Newt & Perry did.
Well said, 1010RD. I so agree.
Gingrich in his rage against Romney has taken an unAmerican tack. If we want a socialist utopia we should go to Europe.
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Why waste the expense of moving, WM- when, it’s right here in America? And pls, don’t tell me that it’s not. -:)
Example: Investors/stock brokers are examples of capitalism. They make money for their clients, lots of money for people in congress, with insider info. This free enterprise system is not free for all to pursue. Capitalism is being destroyed by the unholy alliance between business and government.
Government is redistributing wealth and entitlements are one vehicle for that redistribution. Laws, in particular tax laws, are another vehicle for redistribution.
Not everything is a shining example of capitalism because of the distortions. To say so, makes the argument that capitalism is bad, socialism is good.
Old age creeping up. Woke up at 0130, couldn't get back to sleep, so checked FreeRep and the web. It's an awesome article. If you haven't read it already, it's worth the time.
Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman
In August 2002, Dade filed for bankruptcy.
This was not an isolated case.
* Bain in 1988 put $5 million down to buy Stage Stores, and in the mid-’90s took it public, collecting $100 million from stock offerings. Stage filed for bankruptcy in 2000.
* Bain in 1992 bought American Pad & Paper (AMPAD), investing $5 million, and collected $100 million from dividends. The business filed for bankruptcy in 2000.
* Bain in 1993 invested $60 million when buying GS Industries, and received $65 million from dividends. GS filed for bankruptcy in 2001.
* Bain in 1997 invested $46 million when buying Details, and made $93 million from stock offerings. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2003.
Romney’s Bain invested 22 percent of the money it raised from 1987-95 in these five businesses, making a $578 million profit.
While I have not investigated all of Romney’s Bain investments and there may be cases where he made money and improved businesses, there’s little question he made a fortune from businesses he helped destroy.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/ad_mitt_mistakes_jRmd2LHaPIb0bbNn1ZkgaJ#ixzz1jS4jxauE
Are you saying Friedman doesn’t think capitalism needs an ethical or moral framework? That it provides one all by itself?
What exactly was so "unethical". The word is thrown around with no definition. If Romney had done anything illegal he would have been indicted.
Gingrich and Perry have walked their supporters right into a socialist trap. They did this to defeat an opponent none of us want. However, I'm not for burning down my home, my freedoms, and my right to pursue happiness so they can be elected.
I would strongly suggest that my FRiends look up an old movie called "Other Peoples Money" and watch the final 10 minutes. It is a good explanation of how malinvestment hurts everyone.
Also, I would ask my Newt supporter FRiends where was the outrage with Newt trading influence for millions?
Gingrich and Perry attacking venture capitalists may play well with the populists who want some entity to regulate all economic activity "for our own good" but it will fail. I wouldn't be surprised if this is what carries Romney to the nomination.
Who the heck is arguing for equality. That is different than equal OPPORTUNITY. GM is calitalism, they made $14 billion in profits and paid no taxes. Does every company participating in capitalism get to pay no taxes on profits? They system has been destroyed and if we want to ensure capitalism survives we need to deal with the wart that are now ingrained in capitalism.
Absolutely WRONG.
"Compassionate conservative" implies that those other conservatives lack compassion; in truth "compassionate conservative" is redundant.
"Ethical capitalism" correctly implies that there is such a thing as unethical capitalism -- Scrooge, for example. Ticket scalpers and folks who buy-up common dot.com website domains to extort money from folks who have genuine commercial use for them are unethical capitalists. The banker in "It's a Wonderful Life" was an unethical capitalist.
In fact, those very types of unethical capitalists were so associated with Republicans and conservatives (what party do you suppose Gordon Gecko belonged to, in Hollywood's eyes?) that Bush felt compelled to coin the ridiculous, insulting, defensive, and condescending phrase "compassionate conservative."
Sadly, a lot of people on here have idealized capitalism to the point that, like any ideological zealots, they go into denial at any criticism of their creed.
"Greed" is just another word for avarice and covetousness. The bible makes it quite plain that it is a moral failing, the same as envy and sloth. Those who glorify "greed" as necessary and good in any worthy capitalist, are denying the Bible's moral code and therefore are going against America's Founding Fathers.
When Ronald Reagan was asked in 1979 about the threat of Republican John Connally, who was also running for president and had growing support from corporate CEOs, Reagan said:
"Let him have the Forune 500. I want our campaign to stand for Main Street, not Wall Street. I want us to stand for the worker, the shopkeeper, the entrepreneur, and the small businessman."
I say, GODSPEED, NEWT!
It’s better to stick with things like Romneycare instead of bringing up what amounts to business miracles.
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Romney created business miracles? I guess you have every right to support heim, then.
The dawn of industrialization was quite ruthless and I doubt that any of us would want to return to those conditions. Even the most unsympathetic authors writing on the 19th century have to admit the abuses. One of the reasons there was fertile ground for theories like those of Marx and others was precisely because of the abusive treatement.
The new industrialized world was obviously going to require a bit of adjustment for people coming from an agricultural or small crafts world, where there may have been the same or even more poverty but there was also a little more autonomy and an entirely different rhythm of work. The adaptation to industrial discipline must have been very hard indeed.
But it was not the industrialization to which people objected (well, except for poets and other romantics) but the abuses in their treatment. Most of the workers felt they would be able to earn more money and have a better life under industrialization, which was the truth. But the abuses, such as having small children labor at dangerous work for long hours, the lack of basic safety provisions and the unhealthy working conditions, not to mention the miserable pay that they often ended up receiving for incredibly long hours, were obviously going to generate resentment among the workers and unfortunately many early industrialists met this with a shrug.
This was a foolish thing to do, because the other fact of industrialization was that it concentrated workers in groups, and therefore there was more possibility that they could assemble and fight back, rather than patiently bearing abuse as had the more scattered agricultural workers.
If the owners had dealt with these abusive practices themselves, unions would never have gotten off the ground, and probably Marxism wouldn’t have had as much appeal either. And even if you think it’s just fine to treat workers like beasts of burden who need to be soundly beaten and fed as little as possible, it’s simply not good business practice and is very short-sighted. The owners who failed to respond to the problems were not only unethical, but poor businessmen and were just as responsible for the rise of unions as the Socialist labor movement.
What has made America an exceptional nation is ethical behavior. What is destroying it is unethical, but legal behavior.
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It’s only legal behavior because the unethical have bought off the equally unethical GOP Establishment politicians. _:)
What has made America an exceptional nation is ethical behavior. What is destroying it is unethical, but legal behavior.
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It’s only legal behavior because the unethical have bought off the equally unethical GOP Establishment politicians. _:)
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