Supergirl
09-29-2008, 04:10 PM
I mean this as a serious discussion about capitalism and whether it works.
I am also curious as to whether those of you who honestly identify as libertarians agree or disagree with the following quote, made by Paul Krugman on Real Time with Bill Maher?
“There are no atheists in a foxhole, and no libertarians in financial crises.”
If you don’t follow Bill Maher’s show, check it out. It's free as a podcast, if you don't have HBO. He’s had some of the best discussions and analysis of current events anywhere around these days. On his most recent episode Naomi Klein and Andrew Sullivan got into a heated debate about, essentially, whether capitalism works as a philosophy, especially in light of the current economic crisis. Here’s some quotes from the debate:
“And the disaster is far from over. They’ve actually just relocated the disaster. The disaster was on Wall Street, and they have moved the disaster to Main Street, by accepting those debts. And, you know, you said they didn’t have to bomb, but the bomb has yet to detonate. You know, the bomb is the debt that has now been transferred to the taxpayers. So, it detonates when - if - John McCain becomes president in the midst of an economic crisis, and says, “Look, we’re in trouble; we’ve got a disaster on our hands; we have to privatize Social Security; we can’t afford health care; we can’t afford food stamps; we - we need more deregulation, more privatization.” (Naomi Klein)
“At this point, we have - that’s the crisis. And, now, look. Wall Street is to blame for - for giving these people these loans, but no one is ever forced to take out a bad loan they cannot repay. And, to some extent, the American people are responsible for the crisis they’re currently in. If you had a sensible capitalist tax system which did not direct people to buy one thing rather than another and allowed the market to take place, this wouldn’t have happened. I believe this is a failure of capitalism because capitalism hasn’t been properly put into operation.” (Andrew Sullivan)
I am also curious as to whether those of you who honestly identify as libertarians agree or disagree with the following quote, made by Paul Krugman on Real Time with Bill Maher?
“There are no atheists in a foxhole, and no libertarians in financial crises.”
If you don’t follow Bill Maher’s show, check it out. It's free as a podcast, if you don't have HBO. He’s had some of the best discussions and analysis of current events anywhere around these days. On his most recent episode Naomi Klein and Andrew Sullivan got into a heated debate about, essentially, whether capitalism works as a philosophy, especially in light of the current economic crisis. Here’s some quotes from the debate:
“And the disaster is far from over. They’ve actually just relocated the disaster. The disaster was on Wall Street, and they have moved the disaster to Main Street, by accepting those debts. And, you know, you said they didn’t have to bomb, but the bomb has yet to detonate. You know, the bomb is the debt that has now been transferred to the taxpayers. So, it detonates when - if - John McCain becomes president in the midst of an economic crisis, and says, “Look, we’re in trouble; we’ve got a disaster on our hands; we have to privatize Social Security; we can’t afford health care; we can’t afford food stamps; we - we need more deregulation, more privatization.” (Naomi Klein)
“At this point, we have - that’s the crisis. And, now, look. Wall Street is to blame for - for giving these people these loans, but no one is ever forced to take out a bad loan they cannot repay. And, to some extent, the American people are responsible for the crisis they’re currently in. If you had a sensible capitalist tax system which did not direct people to buy one thing rather than another and allowed the market to take place, this wouldn’t have happened. I believe this is a failure of capitalism because capitalism hasn’t been properly put into operation.” (Andrew Sullivan)