Corrupted Capitalism and the Housing Crisis
invite response
2014 Apr 18, 1:56am 24,878 views 94 comments
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indigenous
2014 Apr 20, 3:15am
Corrupt officials do not benefit the government, they benefit themselves.
Xactly
Unless the country is a dictatorship there is no motive for the government as an entity to cheat.
Tru Dat
We, the people control the government, and we can replace our politicians at will, even between elections.
What makes you think that?
Strategist
2014 Apr 20, 3:21am
Corrupt officials do not benefit the government, they benefit themselves.
Xactly
Unless the country is a dictatorship there is no motive for the government as an entity to cheat.
Tru Dat
We, the people control the government, and we can replace our politicians at will, even between elections.
What makes you think that?
We can impeach Presidents, and recall Governors as in the case of California governor - Davis.
indigenous
2014 Apr 20, 3:30am
We can impeach Presidents, and recall Governors as in the case of California governor - Davis.
Ok but what about votes being stolen by candidates, wars being caused/started for the benefit of cronies, an entire industry, healthcare, being coerced into government control, etc, etc.
The problem is that pesky complacency that so many are affected by...
Maybe you're not as stupid as you sound. Businesses are cons. When they've fucked their customer long enough they just move on to the next one.
This is simply a stupid statement from some one who has either never worked in business or is totally dishonest. You're just as good at creating boogey men of the private sector as indignous is of government. It's like watching two little kids go nah, nah, nah.
Strategist
2014 Apr 20, 3:46am
We can impeach Presidents, and recall Governors as in the case of California governor - Davis.
Ok but what about votes being stolen by candidates, wars being caused/started for the benefit of cronies, an entire industry, healthcare, being coerced into government control, etc, etc.
The problem is that pesky complacency that so many are affected by...
That does not affect the ability to impeach Presidents or recall governors.
indigenous
2014 Apr 20, 3:52am
hat does not affect the ability to impeach Presidents or recall governors.
Sure it does.
Strategist
2014 Apr 20, 3:56am
hat does not affect the ability to impeach Presidents or recall governors.
Sure it does.
How?
indigenous
2014 Apr 20, 3:44pm
How?
By inducing group thinking. This convinces the collective to quit believing their lying eyes and to just do what you tell them to do.
This was the product of Edward Bernays, who showed Wilson enough, for the communist countries to proclaim they learned everything they knew about about propaganda from him, Wilson. This the sort of thing that sbh swears up and down were his idea when it was anything but.
smaulgld
2014 Apr 20, 10:56pm
A company can only seek profit lawfully
Implicit in the lawful market is the government. Businesses cheat. Those who vilify the government as the sole criticism of "markets" are biased liars. You don't get to blame government for BOTH capitalism's desire to cheat the consumer for profit (this is intrinsic to humans and their business entities) and the fact that when the cheating succeeds it is because of government inefficiency or corruption.
Inherent in human nature is fraud for some. Institutions enable it on a larger level. Capitalists do not have an initial desire to cheat customers for profit any more than your neighbors have an initial desire to rob your home. Some may but for most businesses and people their primary aim is not to commit crimes.
Similarly most politicians don't run for office to get kickbacks and bribes.
Yet these things happen. Madison wrote if men were angels, no government would be necessary. I take the view that large business and large government are inherently more corruptible than smaller ones. If big government enables big corporations, I think a smaller government would be less able to facilitate unlawful, unethical and un earned profits that big companies make.
Both big business and government are to blame. More essential goods and services, however, come from businesses than government so I favor curbing government more than business.
Reduce the government size, and let big companies try to cheat customers and competitors will drive them from the market.
Here is an example of how a big government regulatory agency with a massive budget is ineffective in regulating the big banks
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http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2012/02/15/corrupted-capitalism-housing-crisis
As Robert Bridges wrote in the Wall Street Journal last year, “we have put excessive emphasis on owner-occupied housing for social objectives, mistakenly relied on homebuilding for economic stimulus, and fostered misconceptions about homeownership and financial independence. We’ve diverted capital from more productive investments and misallocated scarce public resources.†This misallocation laid the foundations for the housing crisis.
#housing