RE: FWD [forteana] Health Care: USA, Iraq & Canada

From: Lee Corbin (lcorbin@tsoft.com)
Date: Sat Aug 09 2003 - 20:36:37 MDT

  • Next message: Lee Corbin: "RE: FWD [forteana] Health Care: USA, Iraq & Canada"

    Jeff writes

    > I have no problem with the underlying theory of
    > capitalism: one works, generates a surplus, invests
    > the surplus so as to further increase their wealth.

    This is progress.

    > But the simple reasonableness of this principle--which
    > increases the wealth of the individual AND the wealth
    > of the community--can be corrupted by (among other
    > things) greed coupled with systemic structural flaws.
    > This is where I would suggest a qualifier to Mitch's
    > indictment of the managerial class.
    >
    > Structural flaws provide the opportunity to take
    > advantage of "the system" (corporate and
    > government) and aggrandized oneself at the expense of
    > others. And, tending to make matters much worse is
    > the further flaw in the system, whereby abusing it
    > confers an advantage, ie. crime pays, and the crime of
    > one, like a cancer, infects, compels, encourages, and
    > for a while legitimizes, the crime/corruption of
    > others. "Everyone was doing it."

    Do you think that something different has recently
    happened?

    What *has* "recently" happened, as in the last century
    or so, according to what I know, is that the behavior
    of the principals in the market has reformed admirably,
    mainly due, perhaps, to (1) a more honest judiciary
    with better public exposure that sends swindler's
    to prison (2) gradually greater experience and
    knowledge distributed by education, so that people
    are less naive when entering markets than they once
    were.

    > The structural flaw as I see it lies in the unbalanced
    > power of executives and massive non-accountability.
    > They make the decisions, make the rules, control the
    > paper trail....

    Oh, it's never been as accountable as now. I heartily
    recommend that everyone read the unbelievably great
    "The Scarlet Woman of Wall Street", the most hilarious,
    and well-written account of the beginnings of Wall Street.
    I have not read such a simultaneously informative and
    entertaining book in years.

    Lee



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