Is Occupy Wall Street Bringing Back “Real” Capitalism?

[SparrowHawk]

Is Occupy Wall Street Bringing Back “Real” Capitalism?

Modern capitalism, as we know it, is a sick and distorted perversion of its true origins. Since the 1980s, the form of capitalism that has dominated western economies has been one where large corporations and most financial institutions are able to privatize their gains whilst socializing their losses. The recent Occupy Wall Street movement, as such, isn’t so much as a retaliation against capitalism, but rather against its modern incarnation.

Amidst The Clutter Reported In The Media, What Occupy Wall Street Protesters Really Want Is Political And Financial Reform

There may be a good few Maoists, Trotskyists, Anarcho-Syndicalists and even the odd deluded benefit scrounger among them, but it is simply wrong to characterize the Occupy Wall Street protestors who are camping out in 1,500 cities worldwide as wanting to overthrow capitalism, in the same way the sans-culottes toppled France's Ancien Régime in 1789 or that the Tahrir Square protesters toppled Egypt's president Hosni Mubarak.

The movement is more nuanced than that. As I tried to explain in my blog, 'Democracy for sale', what the protesters really want is political and financial reform. They want to replace the corroded crony capitalism that has predominated in the West since the 1980s – as well as the corrupt political and financial system, rigged in favour of the rich and powerful, that underpins it – with a saner version of capitalism and a more inclusive democracy.

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[delldude]

How about 'useful idiots' as Uncle Joe used to say.

 

[SparrowHawk]

"Capitalism is essentially a system of mass production for the satisfaction of the needs of the masses. It pours a horn of plenty upon the common man. It has raised the average standard of living to a height never dreamed of in earlier ages. It has made accessible to millions of people enjoyments which a few generations ago were only within the reach of a small elite." – Ludwig von Mises

The above quote from Mr von Mises speaks volumes in today's world. If one reads more of his work you'll note his deep aversion to what many refer to as Crony Capitalism.

Crony Capitalism is really the common ground upon which the Tea Party, Occupy Wall Street and Ron Paul supporters can unite behind. Because no matter which side you approach it from be it Libertarian like Dr Paul, Conservative ala the Tea Party or the more Liberal Occupy Wall Street you end up at the same cross roads. The average Joe/Jane is taking it in the shorts long and hard and Obama, Romney, Gingrich & Santorum are NOT the answer. In fact I'd argue they ARE the problem.

 

[delldude]

It looks as if Occupy is run by Capitalists:

New York City reside in more luxurious homes than some of their rhetoric might suggest, a Daily Caller investigation has found.
For each of the 984 Occupy Wall Street protesters arrested in New York City between September 18 and October 15, police collected and filed an information sheet recording the arrestee’s name, age, sex, criminal charge, home address and — in most cases — race. The Daily Caller has obtained all of this information from a source in the New York City government.
Among addresses for which information is available, single-family homes listed on those police intake forms have a median value of $305,000 — a far higher number than the $185,400 median value of owner-occupied housing units in the United States.
Some of the homes where “Occupy” arrestees reside, viewed through Google Maps and the Multiple Listing Service real estate database, are the definition of opulence.
Using county assessors and online resources such as Zillow.com, TheDC estimated property values and rents for 87 percent of the homes and 59 percent of the apartments listed in the arrest records.
Even in the nation’s currently depressed housing market, at least 95 of the protesters’ residences are worth approximately $500,000 or more.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/11/02/nyc-arrest-records-many-occupy-wall-street-protesters-live-in-luxury/#ixzz1u6WB4HmQ

 

[Ms Tree]

Just so we are all on the same page. What definition are we using for 'true capitalism' and when did this exist if ever?

 

[SparrowHawk]

Just so we are all on the same page. What definition are we using for 'true capitalism' and when did this exist if ever?

The death of free market capitalism was the day the Federal Reserve Bank began operation.

 

[Ms Tree]

So what changed?

 

[SparrowHawk]

So what changed?

You need to do your own research. It's way to long to write it out here. This is the basic theoretical battle between Keynesian School and Austrian School Economics, The role of Federal Government, Fireign Policy, Monetary policy are all wrapped up inside this. It's very very complex and has been the source of debate since the theories of John Maynard Keynes came in to popularity.

There are some cute rap videos that actually explain the topic pretty well. If I can link one or two of them here with the new system I will.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0nERTFo-Sk