> Jerry Mitchell writes
>
> > "an economic system characterized by private or corporate
> > ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined
> > by private decision rather than by state control, and by prices,
> > production, and the distribution of goods that are determined
> > mainly by competition in a free market."
>
> That definition was supplied by Barbara, Jerry, not me :-)
Woops, sorry ;)
>
> > Nature imposes Capitalism, man imposes all other forms.
>
> Too many libertarians, in my opinion, forget the importance
> of culture. Actually, a hunter-gatherer communism is probably
> more "natural" than capitalism. But even very developed societies,
> such as the Inca, might very well somehow make some form of
> communism work (lots of things are possible when your leader
> really is God).
A tribe commune already has its hands full making sure that the "good and
services" are equally divided. The chief would have to punish those who
didn't work as hard as the others, or make sure they got less. Imagine the
complexity of this situation magnified MILLIONS of times in a modern day
society. That's why I say its not natural per se.
>
> We can probably safely state, however, that for human beings
> capitalism is "natural" if
>
> 1. there is a sufficient tradition of liberty in a culture
> 2. the ruling government or state is not overly powerful
> 3. no existing religion has absolute control, unless it's
> fairly mild and isn't antithetical to profit
>
> I think that I see why you wish to describe capitalism as
> "natural"
>
> > Capitalism is after all is what happens when one quits
> > trying to impose systems on man.
>
> While I can't agree with that for the aforesaid reasons, it's
> true that in comparison, systems that arise from the concentration
> of power at a central focus seem artificial in comparison.
>
> Lee
>
Ok, maybe then we include that capitalism is the system that will be
obtained by removing all other systems while still keeping within a
framework of liberty, rights, and primarily "reason". Chiefs couldn't
control people there like so much cattle. Details on how to obtain this
miraculous state, to be determined in the future by objective political
scientist cause I certainly don't have all the answers.
Jerry
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