The future of capitalism will not look like its past
Last December, the Pew Research Center released a poll in which it attempted to gauge American perceptions of capitalism and socialism. Here’s what it found, broken down by age group:
The generational differences reflected in those numbers are stark. Americans aged 18-29 are deeply ambivalent about capitalism, while a slight plurality is supportive of socialism. Their grandparents, on the other hand, offer a mirror-image reversal, reporting an overwhelmingly negative view of socialism and a generally positive attitude toward capitalism.
There are many ways to interpret numbers like that, the most obvious being the Churchillian observation that people tend to grow more conservative as they get older. There’s no doubt some truth to that, in part because as people get older, they acquire more wealth and want to protect it. Like older Russians who mourned the collapse of the Soviet Union, older Americans also become emotionally invested in the system in which they’ve lived all their lives.
However, I suspect there’s also something deeper at work in those poll numbers, something that reflects the different historical experience of the age groups in question. And that difference will influence public policy debates in this country in profound ways over the next three decades.
Today, younger Americans have no cultural memory of the Cold War, an era in which American capitalism was in existential conflict with Soviet communism and its softer, more rational cousin, socialism. Unlike older Americans, they were not raised in a world that divided itself along that particular fault line. Framed in a more conservative way, younger Americans have little direct, first-hand experience with socialism. They are, you might say, naive about its drawbacks.
The dividing line between those worlds would of course be 1989, when the Berlin Wall collapsed. Today, Americans who are 40 or younger have lived all of their adult lives in a world in which communism was no longer a grave threat to capitalism. And that’s important, because the basic insight of capitalism — competition is good because it drives people and organizations to do better — applies to political ideologies just as well as it applies to football teams or individuals.
In this case, as long as communism existed as a realistic alternative, capitalism and its defenders had to mute its harsher aspects to make it more appealing. They had to “deliver the goods” of a broad middle class, with a division of the economic pie that would be judged by both insiders and outsiders as fair and just. Otherwise, they would be handing ammunition to their ideological enemies, who depicted capitalism as a brutish, winner-take-all system.
But after 1989, with its competitor vanquished, capitalism in effect began to exert its monopoly power. It became rougher, less paternal and more aggressive. If income for the already wealthy soared while the pay of working class Americans stagnated or even declined, well, too bad. It was justified as Darwinian justice, a form of justice much different from the concept of economic justice that had been in effect prior to 1989.
Today, when younger Americans think of capitalism, this is the system that comes to mind. Their parents and grandparents experienced it as a system that produces great prosperity; in their own lives, they have seen capitalism produce something much less appealing. The fact that the collapse of 2008 was driven largely by Wall Street excess, and that most of those who engaged in that excess have escaped serious consequence, only compounds the image problem.
I’m not trying to argue that we’re now entering some kind of post-capitalist era, because whatever its disadvantages, capitalism still beats every other system known to man. But it will have to be a form of capitalism that fits the needs of its time, and it will be molded by generations that have different expectations and understandings. Capitalism is not a static concept; it must live by its own rules, which means that it will adapt or it will fall.
– Jay Bookman
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527 comments Add your comment
kayaker 71
November 19th, 2012
6:47 pm
Kamchak, 6:42,
A huge difference. We used to say in the military that some one was a “good guy”. That implied many things. Many didn’t understand those words but many more did. I wouldn’t have a beer with Bozo if he brought a keg to my house. He would not be welcome.
josef
November 19th, 2012
6:47 pm
K’CHAK
I will have to respectfully disagree…by not drawing that distinction the “winner” is allowed the luxury of reading it as “approval” and thus no need to consult. To “accept” carries more a note of fatalism and it is that fatalism, imeoiauo, must be addressed if we are to move beyond the same old same old…
newkid
November 19th, 2012
6:47 pm
Jay,
Could it be that the younger generation’s perception of what comprises ’socialism’ is not as twisted as the older view that holds that what we saw in 20th century USSR was communism or it’s younger sister socialism? Could it be that the they understand that the old Soviet model does not reflect a 21st century model of communism or its younger sister socialism? Could it be that this generation understands that even Lenin himself in 1922 recognized that what was brewing in the Soviet Union as early as 5 years after the 1917 revolution was NOT the model to which he aspired. In fact in 1922 Lenin said the following to reflect his misgiving:
“Let us picture to ourselves a man ascending a very high, steep and hitherto unexplored mountain. Let us assume that he has overcome unprecedented difficulties and dangers and has succeeded in reaching a much higher point than any of his predecessors, but still has not reached the summit. He finds himself in a position where it is not only difficult and dangerous to proceed in the direction and along the path he has chosen, but positively impossible.”
Maybe the younger generation believes that the “all for ourselves, nothing for anyone else” (I believe that’s an expression that Adam Smith used) mantra of the capitalist is not a sustainable economic model, and that a suitable alternative (call it whatever you wish) must be developed and implemented if perpetual war is to be avoided. Maybe the younger generation understands and accepts ‘the charter of the forest’.
josef
November 19th, 2012
6:49 pm
ERWIN’S
I can also go for ambivalence…
KAYAKER
Anyone who comes to my house in peace is welcome…
Look before I leap...
November 19th, 2012
6:50 pm
“Tell that to Bill Gates who started a corporation that his changed the lives of every single American more than anyone who came before him.”
I respectfully submit that Edison and Westinghouse surpass Gates in that regard if only because the percentage of households in the US with electricity exceeds the percentage of households with Windows.
dbm
November 19th, 2012
6:51 pm
“If you’re not a liberal when you’re 25, you have no heart. If you’re not a conservative by the time you’re 35, you have no brain.”
I personally heard President Sterling of Stanford University say something similar in the 60’s. There were some differences. He said “something of a liberal” and “something of a conservative”. (The words “liberal” and “conservative” are already quite vague. Saying “something of a” makes it worse.) He used the third person instead of the second. He said “there must be something wrong with his” instead of “he has no”. I don’t remember the exact age numbers he used.
Can anyone find a source for a similar statement before the 60’s?
I should add that I think clearly stated principles are MUCH more useful than vague labels.
JamVet
November 19th, 2012
6:52 pm
All of this America is toast nonsense is just Republispeak for we got our asses kicked, but good. Again.
You sore losers and crybabies have given up on the United States of America. BFD. Who cares?
The rest of us are gonna keep on working towards a “more perfect union”.
And you fake conservatives can jolly well do whatever the hell you please.
All from somewhere within Loserville…
kayaker 71
November 19th, 2012
6:52 pm
Look before I leap, 6:50,
Edison and Westinghouse….. both capitalists in the strongest sense of the word.
Dave
November 19th, 2012
6:54 pm
Welcome, I don’t know that I’d call your 6:41 analysis rigorous; but, it is interesting. On other than social issues, I’m having a hard time finding a whole lot of difference between Dems and GOP folks. You seem to argue that it’s a conspiracy of sorts, I’d argue it’s because neither side has much of a clue.
Erwin's cat
November 19th, 2012
6:54 pm
Look before…
i’d say Otis Boykin changed the world more
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
November 19th, 2012
6:54 pm
A huge difference.
It always is, especially when it’s your ox getting gored.
In this case, voters connecting with Obama because they think he’s cool is no different than those in 2000 expressing a connection to Bush because they think he’s a person they could sit down and have a beer with.
Mick
November 19th, 2012
6:55 pm
paul
No, going through vegas.
My email account got deleted somehow and I lost every damn message from the past five years! Bellsouth just had an aw shucks attitude but I lost a lot of important contacts and business relationships. Starting over…
They BOTH suck
November 19th, 2012
6:56 pm
kayaker
I will be coming through Macon on my way back from south Ga on Friday.
Be ready to drink some of the “coldest beers” you have ever tasted. I would say in Atlanta as you say, but they will probably have been purchased somewhere in south GA.
Have the tunes on and be ready to Rock n Roll.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
November 19th, 2012
6:59 pm
I will have to respectfully disagree…by not drawing that distinction the “winner” is allowed the luxury of reading it as “approval” and thus no need to consult.
josef
The non voters already know all of this. The non voters aren’t looking for a consult — if they were, they would’ve voted.
The future of capitalism will not look like its past | Jay Bookman | weywerdSun
November 19th, 2012
7:00 pm
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josef
November 19th, 2012
7:01 pm
K’CHAK
I will agree that the non voters aren’t looking for a consult…but the establishment should be…
Soothsayer
November 19th, 2012
7:02 pm
In proportion as capital accumulates, the situation of the worker, be his payment high or low, must grow worse.… The law which always holds the relative surplus population in equilibrium with the extent and energy of accumulation rivets the worker to capital more firmly than the wedges of Hephaestus held Prometheus to the rock. It makes an accumulation of misery a necessary condition, corresponding to the accumulation of wealth. Accumulation at one pole is, therefore, at the same time accumulation of misery, the torment of labour, slavery, ignorance, brutalization and moral degradation at the opposite pole, i.e. on the side of the class that produces its own product as capital.
– Karl Marx, The General Law of Accumulation
This theory was roundly criticized during the post WWII era, but has more meaning today, wouldn’t you agree?
Thomas Heyward Jr
November 19th, 2012
7:03 pm
The future of capitalism/socialism?
.
Who cares?
You will ALL take the system that Boehnor/Cantor/Obama/Hillery and the other neo-cons give you.
.
And you Washington/State -worshipping sheep ……………WILL LIKE IT.
(or at least pretend to).
.
lol
and
baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
TaxPayer
November 19th, 2012
7:03 pm
“Bush tried that with Medicare part D
And you guys keep ridiculing it
So the mistake won’t be repeated”
Bush failed to pay for his compassionate conservatism. That was his mistake. Or at least one of his mistakes.
clem
November 19th, 2012
7:04 pm
this guy no slouch as thinker:
http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/Einstein.htm
jconservative
November 19th, 2012
7:05 pm
Romney lost because he campaigned to the entire electorate until the 1st week of October. Then he made his move to improve his potential vote with women and Latinos but it was to little to late.
The electorate today is not the massive nation of whites was was for over 200 years. Today’s electorate is splintered into assorted groups.
Obama took women, unmarried women, latinos, blacks, asians and the jewish vote. Plus he carried
45% of men.
Like it or not, and I do not, Obama is only the 4th president in the last 108 years to win the popular vote in two presidential elections. The other three are F D Roosevelt, Eisenhower and Reagan. That puts Obama in very rare and exclusive company.
And, Republicans have now lost the popular vote in 5 of the last 6 presidential elections. What will Republicans do to stop it from being 6 of 7? That is really the question for 2016.
Look before I leap...
November 19th, 2012
7:06 pm
“Can anyone find a source for a similar statement before the 60’s?”
“Not to be a republican at 20 is proof of want of heart; to be one at 30 is proof of want of head.”
-Francios Guizot c. 1847
Restated as:
“Not to be a socialist at twenty is proof of want of heart; to be one at thirty is proof of want of head.”
-Georges Clemenceau c 1916
Jack ®
November 19th, 2012
7:08 pm
Be a job provider. Run your company in a Socialist manner. And try not to make too much money or you’ll be called a Capitalist.
Soothsayer
November 19th, 2012
7:08 pm
I’ve got to leave for a while. But I wanted to leave you with this. They might need a longer runway, ya think?!!! Watch in full screen mode and turn up the volume.
F. Sinkwich
November 19th, 2012
7:09 pm
“The rest of us are gonna keep on working towards a “more perfect union”.”
Let’s translate that, shall we?
MPU = shared prosperity = social justice= equality of outcomes = economic justice = income redistribution = to each according to their needs = Marxism.
Some of us know reality when we see it.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
November 19th, 2012
7:11 pm
Be a job provider.
Eff your effin’ “job”.
Start talking about career provider, then I will begin to take you seriously.
But until then….
Jm
November 19th, 2012
7:11 pm
“more perfect union”
Dog whistle for complete socialism
Jammie doesn’t care about the rest of the document
Wheels up
They BOTH suck
November 19th, 2012
7:12 pm
“Some of us know reality when we see it.”
Apparently not, based on some of he crying that has been going on for two weeks now.
NA
November 19th, 2012
7:13 pm
amazing —— this means younger people do not understand anything about capitalism or they would not willing choose socialism………. Obama has been called a socialist as that is where he wants to take the sheep that voted for him to slaughter———- it is really ashame that this once great nation is being taken down the path we fought against for so long. People in the US need to go spend some time in a socialist country and they will find it is not as great as they think
yuzeyurbrane
November 19th, 2012
7:14 pm
Jay, I think the poll is subject to misinterpretation. My own view is that younger voters, blacks and Hispanics are simply not being intimidated like your typical Georgia cracker with the labeling of “socialist” and the like. Oh, horrors. I think they are simply practicing “pragmatism” which is the only ism to which Americans have always adhered. They are also more willing to experiment without ideological blinders on to see if something solves a problem or not. If it does, good; if not, discard it and try something else. That is in the deepest American tradition
Kamchak - "Socialism" is just a code word for "fear," the monster under you bed ~ Kamchak
November 19th, 2012
7:14 pm
Dog whistle for complete socialism
“Socialism”
Dog whistle for fear.
dbm
November 19th, 2012
7:14 pm
What we really need is for enough people to understand that government is force and that this implies something about what government should and shouldn’t do. It’ll be a while yet before we get that.
Brosephus™
November 19th, 2012
7:14 pm
jconservative
Be careful. When I pointed out that popular vote thing in regards to Obama, I was accused of “cherrypicking” data. Seems as though some people have a hard time dealing with facts nowadays.
Justin Case
November 19th, 2012
7:15 pm
Jay do you have same poll 20, 30, 40 years ago? You would find similar results in the age groups. Being a long hair child from the 60/70’s I was liberal & leaned to socialism but as I grew older & wiser opinion changed completely. As Winston said if your 20 & not liberal you have no heart but if your 40 & not conservative you have no brain!
Jm
November 19th, 2012
7:15 pm
Dammit sinkwich
You read my mind
Brosephus™
November 19th, 2012
7:15 pm
Apparently not, based on some of he crying that has been going on for two weeks now.
To hell with two weeks, bro. You need to back that timetable up a few months/years…
Look before I leap...
November 19th, 2012
7:16 pm
@EC
Boykin was a talented inventor but his contributions were adapted into larger more complex systems designed by others.
I like the fact that Boykin was able to contribute as he hid despite not having a college degree but he was lucky in that he had a mentor (Frith? Fruth?) to help him along.
Edison, Westinghouse (and Gates) envisioned wholesale product and market opportunity relationships and (nodding to kayaker) capitalized on them.
Read the story on the Edison/Westinghouse feud and the AC vs DC war. Very interesting stuff.
Doggone/GA
November 19th, 2012
7:16 pm
“this means younger people do not understand anything about capitalism or they would not willing choose socialism”
And maybe they aren’t choosing “socialism”..but choosing AGAINST what has been done to, and with, “capitalism” in their lifetimes.
JamVet
November 19th, 2012
7:17 pm
Andy and jimmy Singapore, you two don’t know your elbows from your ________.
But you’ve got those childish talking points down pat!
And your fellow McCarthyite, the shameful Alan West, says hello from the unemployment line!
Keep up the good work, fellas.
You neoconnies are doing a heckuva job!
They BOTH suck
November 19th, 2012
7:18 pm
Bro
Trying to keep it relevant. Some can’t see or remember much past the last shiny object that was utilized to distract them.
They BOTH suck
November 19th, 2012
7:19 pm
“jimmy Singapore”
Sounds like the mafia wannabe weasel in a cheap B movie.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
November 19th, 2012
7:21 pm
Sounds like the mafia wannabe weasel in a cheap B movie
Or like something that hookers charge extra for.
Thomas Heyward Jr
November 19th, 2012
7:21 pm
dbm
November 19th, 2012
7:14 pm
What we really need is for enough people to understand that government is force and that this implies something about what government should and shouldn’t do. It’ll be a while yet before we get that.
———————————————————————————————————————————-
.
Most excellent.
. Have no fear.
Decent people are already getting it.
only about 33% of Americans voted for Romney/Obama.
That leaves 67% who have…………………put the evils of coercion behind them……and growing everyday.
.
Forward Liberty!
and the message of Ron Paul.
JamVet
November 19th, 2012
7:22 pm
The kid has been threatening to take his millions there for months now.
I say we take up a collection and send the would-be sellout there! (And maybe Andy can stow away since, by his own words, the USA is dead to him…)
Thomas Heyward Jr
November 19th, 2012
7:24 pm
And I apologize for frightening Bookman and his regular crew for mentioning Ron Paul…and the concept of Individual Liberty that he stands for.
.
Fed.gov will be around for a few more years.
You’ll be aight.
cmac
November 19th, 2012
7:24 pm
socialism has worked so well in europe …. so let’s bring it here!!!
Erwin's cat
November 19th, 2012
7:24 pm
look before…
sure, the transistor as we know it …out rates the printing press…i have nothing against edison, westinghouse, bell, or,franklin…but the modern transistor…and free domain…brilliant!
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
November 19th, 2012
7:24 pm
Jay
November 19th, 2012
4:15 pm
Jay
I’m familiar with German productivity and it will continue to improve but a huge part has nothing to do with policy…it has much more to do with the fact that Germany remains a manufacturing based economy…we have, due in no small part to unions and global competition, a dwindling manufacturing segment that shows no sign of slowing…even the electronics manufacturing as designed by those in Silicon Valley, have been manufactured in Asia…I heard a lot of noise about Romney inventing the offshoring concept…that’s complete BS. the likes of apple, seagate, all the chip makers, and ancillary hardware has been produced in Asia beginning in the mid 80’s…
The point of the article is that at some point on our current political trajectory, the remaining employers will push back and unemployment will reach record highs, for the same reasons currently in France…
This hits home
Look before I leap...
November 19th, 2012
7:25 pm
@Sooth:
From the other direction:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlkaNTJBNTo&feature=related
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlkaNTJBNTo&feature=related
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
November 19th, 2012
7:25 pm
And I apologize for frightening Bookman and his regular crew for mentioning Ron Paul…
I promise that I’ll be frightened, just as soon as I can quell my hysterical laughter.
They BOTH suck
November 19th, 2012
7:26 pm
Jam
Maybe his name should be S Cube: Supply Side Singapore…….
he is going anywhere……… He will be back in the ATL if anything, drinking his rum punch with little umbrellas in them.
moonbat betty
November 19th, 2012
7:27 pm
Oh noooooooooo then mccarthy’s are coming!
Still waiting (since 2006) for the dems to do something, ANYTHING, productive.
They BOTH suck
November 19th, 2012
7:27 pm
Thomas
How is Alex Jones doing? Is he still telling you how Ron Paul is really leading the Republican primary?
Mick
November 19th, 2012
7:29 pm
sink
Where did you learn your economic theory, glen beck university?
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
November 19th, 2012
7:29 pm
It seems to me that a lot of the youth impression of socialism is due to education and liberal leaning teachers…this in addition to dismal jobs outlook, student debt..etcetera not unlike those things suggested by OWS…of course in the end, they just wanted free stuff…
josef
November 19th, 2012
7:29 pm
“Can anyone find a source for a similar statement before the 60’s?”
*****************
“My son is 22 years old. If he had not become a Communist at 22, I would have disowned him. If he is still a Communist at 30, I will do it then.”
–Georges Clemenceau
One of my favorites of his, relative to Wilson’s 14 Points
“G-d H-mself had only 10″
And on his contributions at Versailles..
“Not bad considering I was sitting between Jesus Christ and Napoleon.”.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
November 19th, 2012
7:30 pm
It’s not “capitalism” anymore ……….. it’s “clausism”.
SANTA CLAUSISM !
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
November 19th, 2012
7:31 pm
Germany remains a manufacturing based economy…we have, due in no small part to unions and global competition, a dwindling manufacturing segment that shows no sign of slowing…
% of German workers in a union 27.5
% of U.S. workers in a union 11.4
Doesn’t really lend any credence to your argument against unions.
josef
November 19th, 2012
7:32 pm
OOPS
@ 7:29
This one was Lloyd George, not Clemenceau
And on his contributions at Versailles..
“Not bad considering I was sitting between Jesus Christ and Napoleon.”.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
November 19th, 2012
7:32 pm
If you are looking for a great read:
“By the time Powers returned to High School that fall, the War Department had confirmed that in all, nineteen men from Bedford (Virginia) had been killed on Omaha Beach on D-Day (Company A, 116th Infantry Regiment). Three more Bedford boys had died later in the invasion ……………….. but no community in the state or in America or indeed in any Allied nation had lost as many sons as Bedford.
In a matter of minutes, a couple of German machine gunners had broken the town’s heart.”
“The Bedford Boys” by Alex Kershaw
Kramer
November 19th, 2012
7:32 pm
Bookman, your butt must have teeth because you are the first true talking a**hole. You hope capitalism is different to fit your socialist views!
Look before I leap...
November 19th, 2012
7:33 pm
“Still waiting (since 2006) for the dems to do something, ANYTHING, productive.”
I think the CPR the Dems performed when the GOP put the American economy into v-fib counts as something productive. But then they have had LOTS of practice in that.
josef
November 19th, 2012
7:34 pm
SINKWICH
“Some of us know reality when we see it.”
Not that you fall into that category
They BOTH suck
November 19th, 2012
7:34 pm
“It’s not “capitalism” anymore ……….. it’s “clausism”.
SANTA CLAUSISM !”
Rush reruns………….. Need more actuality and originality
“Reagan / Carter”
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
November 19th, 2012
7:35 pm
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
November 19th, 2012
7:30 pm
Classic!
Kramer
November 19th, 2012
7:36 pm
Look before you leap, it is obama’s economy now. What has he done to fix it? He had control of both houses in 2004. What budget did he pass? You are a moron to keep blaming the GOP. No wait, you are a liberal. Same thing I guess.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
November 19th, 2012
7:36 pm
Headline: “DNC Chair on GOP: ‘They Got Whiter and More Male’… ”
Anyone want to guess the PERCENTAGE of “white and male” of all the soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen who have fought and died in all of our nation’s wars ?
You know, the one’s who established and maintained this great country for you ?
My, how soon we forget.
quit mooching
November 19th, 2012
7:36 pm
The age group (18-29) that is ambivalent has never had to work for one thing in their lives and they have no moral compass. It was easy to have them brainwashed in public ed. Heck, they are ambivalent about everything- gay marriage, civil rights, work ethic, ethics in general, Christmas, you name it.
They are clueless . Don’t use them as a good example.
Oh and by the way, you gave way too much credit to the first lady about the closing of twinkies. The union and company are back in talks.. what does that tell us? Maybe that unions ruin businesses and everything made in China is a result of their power.
Nunna Yobinnes
November 19th, 2012
7:37 pm
newkid – ah yes, Lenin. There was a compassionate communist. I see little difference in communism vs. capitalism. It just changes the wealthy class from the “selfish” capitalists and moves the wealth to the upper levels of the “party.” Either way, the everyday worker people get screwed.
moonbat betty
November 19th, 2012
7:37 pm
And the German factory worker would be living “low class” by us standards.
But they would get 5 weeks every year to do nothing
Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional
November 19th, 2012
7:37 pm
@moonbat betty
November 19th, 2012
7:27 pm
Still waiting (since 2006) for the dems to do something, ANYTHING, productive.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
WE DIDDDDDD SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE.
WE RE-ELECTED OBAMA.
F. Sinkwich
November 19th, 2012
7:38 pm
“Where did you learn your economic theory, glen beck university?”
No.
Kramer
November 19th, 2012
7:38 pm
Growing old, if you think that was productive then you are part of the 47% who are not productive. Gee, what a surprise.
Reality
November 19th, 2012
7:38 pm
There has never been true capatalism and there has never been true conservatism. These are terms “claimed” by a few and twist their meaning to suit their needs.
The so-called conservatives want to proclaim individual rights. They want the government out of everything except the military. But….. no no no to gays. Forget that they are individuals, also. But….. no no no to abortion. Forget that the women are individuals, also. But…. no no no to (you get the point).
The so-called capitalist think that our society thrives on businesses and the small mom-and-pop stores that survive on their sweat and tears. But…. forget about the small business loans provided by the government. But…. forget about the tax breaks that these folks get every year. But…. forget about (you get the point).
F. Sinkwich
November 19th, 2012
7:40 pm
““Some of us know reality when we see it.”
Not that you fall into that category”
Me? Certainly.
You? Not so much.
They BOTH suck
November 19th, 2012
7:40 pm
Someone is still bitter from the election.
No need to say the blogger’s name, but if you were thinking the name consists of numbers, you are on the right track
JamVet
November 19th, 2012
7:40 pm
BOTH, you’re right.
When it comes right down to it, all of our socialist Republicans love being in that 47%!
Even though this country and her people suck; just ask them!
Look before I leap...
November 19th, 2012
7:41 pm
“He had control of both houses in 2004. What budget did he pass? You are a moron”
I may be a moron, but I am bright enough to know that Obama was NOT President in 2004.
In addition, in 2004, the GOP had control of the Senate, the House and the White House.
Kramer
November 19th, 2012
7:41 pm
Reality, why don’t you explain how the economy should work. try to leave gays and abortion and liberal talking points out of your discrption. Please, shed some llight on your brilliance.
getalife
November 19th, 2012
7:41 pm
Your ideology failed and was thoroughly crushed in the election.
Fix your party and we will continue to clean up w’s mess.
bob
November 19th, 2012
7:41 pm
The kids being born today come into the world with massive debt. Let them have socialism, they will be paying for it !
Kramer
November 19th, 2012
7:42 pm
My bad, 2008. Now explain what he did with total control and since. You can’t.
Reality
November 19th, 2012
7:43 pm
What have the Democrats done lately? Really? If you need to ask this question, then you need to get your head out of your butt or at least turn off FOX News!
Try tracking down and killing Osama.
Try ending the multiple wars that Bush got us into (which contributed greatly to the great recession).
Try passing the Healthcare Reform Act which in a few years everyone will realize the tremendous lies used as scare tactics used by the sorry republicans.
Need I continue?
JamVet
November 19th, 2012
7:43 pm
And Kramer, welcome!
It is always great to see “new” bloggers here.
(LOL at the post-election name changers!)
RogersParkRob
November 19th, 2012
7:43 pm
Had to stop at “Like older Russians who mourned the collapse of the Soviet Union, older Americans also become emotionally invested in the system in which they’ve lived all their lives.”
Jay, do you know or have you known any elder people from Russia? Do you actually believe they “mourned” the fall of the Soviet Union?
Brosephus™
November 19th, 2012
7:43 pm
They BOTH: Some can’t see or remember much past the last shiny object that was utilized to distract them.
If you didn’t speak the truth then…
—————
% of German workers in a union 27.5
% of U.S. workers in a union 11.4
Doesn’t really lend any credence to your argument against unions.
Credence??? Credence??? We don’t need no steenkin’ credence…
Kramer
November 19th, 2012
7:44 pm
getalife, getabrain. This is obama’s mess from here on out. ACCOUNTABILITY. I used big letters to show you the proper spelling because God knows you could not spell it on your own.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
November 19th, 2012
7:44 pm
Look before you leap, it is obama’s economy now. What has he done to fix it? He had control of both houses in 2004.
There’s your sign.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
bob
November 19th, 2012
7:44 pm
Getalife, crushed ? Is that why the repubs won the house by such a wide margin ? I am glad the kids like socialism, then they won’t whine when they are paying my Social Security.
fitzgerald
November 19th, 2012
7:44 pm
It looks like I am late to the dinner table with my comment(s) about your article. However, I will finish off the scraps and give ya a belly full. For once, I think I agree with ya. This country is headed toward some combination of capitalism and socialism. I have a German son-in-law that brags about the German economic system. After hearing what he is saying, I agree with some of the things that is done in Germany. And this is coming from someone who would not save a socialist stuck on a railroad with a train about to send him to the beyond. I am one of the retired old folks from the good ole capitalist days. My days are numbered on this earth and your days are long I hope. At some point and time, more than half of your money will be taken from you in just income taxes to fund the socialist programs that are running rampant in our country. Same goes with my children and grandchildren as well as all the others that are their age. God help them and you as yall try to survive. Now that I have finished off the table scraps it is time to think about the future of this country and go barf into the white throne. Thank you.
Kramer
November 19th, 2012
7:44 pm
Jamvet, been on here many times. Where you been?
Reality
November 19th, 2012
7:45 pm
@Kramer –
The fact that I seemd to have gotten under your skin clearly shows that you entirely missed my point. The point being that the terms “capatalism” and “conservatism” are used today but absolutely are not used for their true meaning. Look up the words for yourself since you obviously have attitude with me.
Kramer
November 19th, 2012
7:46 pm
Already answered that kamchak. Get in the game or get off the blog. I made one mistake today to your 10.
Brosephus™
November 19th, 2012
7:46 pm
it is obama’s economy now. What has he done to fix it? He had control of both houses in 2004.
Damn… Somebody’s hittin’ the sauce way too hard for a Monday night. That has to be the single greatest attempt at revisionist history ever!!!!!
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
November 19th, 2012
7:46 pm
“Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say ‘what should be the reward of such sacrifices?’ Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship and plough, and sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!”
Samuel Adams
Brosephus™
November 19th, 2012
7:47 pm
or was that a Freudian slip of epic proportions??? Seems as though BUSH did have control of both houses in 2004.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
November 19th, 2012
7:47 pm
Is that why the repubs won the house by such a wide margin ?
Really?
I heard that they lost seats that were previously held by republicans.
getalife
November 19th, 2012
7:47 pm
After our President stomped you twice, you cons should get the message.
Fix your party con kooks.
The adults will fix the rest.
Okay?
Kramer
November 19th, 2012
7:47 pm
That’s great reality. Now tell us how the economy should work. Type slow so that we understand your genius.
They BOTH suck
November 19th, 2012
7:48 pm
moonbat
If this article is any indication of German union wages, to say you would be way off, would be an understatement
http://www.forbes.com/sites/frederickallen/2011/12/21/germany-builds-twice-as-many-cars-as-the-u-s-while-paying-its-auto-workers-twice-as-much/