FREEDOM'S JUST ANOTHER WORD FOR NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE

Death of 'Soul of Capitalism': Bogle, Faber, Moore
20 reasons America has lost its soul and collapse is inevitable
By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch

"ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- Jack Bogle published "The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism" four years ago. The battle's over. The sequel should be titled: "Capitalism Died a Lost Soul." Worse, we've lost "America's Soul." And, worldwide, the consequences will be catastrophic.

That's why a man like Hong Kong contrarian economist Marc Faber warns in his Doom, Boom & Gloom Report: "The future will be a total disaster, with a collapse of our capitalistic system as we know it today."

No, not just another meltdown, another bear-market recession like the one recently triggered by Wall Street's too-greedy-to-fail banks. Faber is warning that the entire system of capitalism will collapse. Get it? The engine driving the great "American Economic Empire" for 233 years will collapse, a total disaster, a destiny we created."


Market Watch

It's good to see someone address the real underlying cause for the collapse of everything we know; a disconnect from morality and the rules of conduct it demands.

When I listen to economists and pundits go on and on about the free market and its ability to always bring the cream to the top I shake my head in wonder. As they extol the philosophy of Ayn Rand and her Libertarian views that the market should be free of all outside control I wonder if they have taken time to think this faulty logic through?

As they make the argument that absolute freedom of action in the markets will most efficiently allow the winds of freedom to blow across the land, I have to ask myself one simple question; why is it wrong to kill another person?

It seems that if I apply the logic of the markets as put forward by the acolytes of free market thinking then I should be able to eliminate any obstacle to my own success. If my competitor objects to something that I want to do that would increase my wealth, why not just kill him? After all, I have the gun and it would be more efficient if I didn't have to contend with this hindrance. In a market devoid of all constraint this may be the best method.

Of course, this unrestrained market wouldn't really be free, would it? Instead of competing on a level field of play, my gun and my willingness to use will distort every decision my competitor makes. It will force him to focus on self preservation and growth will become secondary.

Morality and ethics are vital to the free market. Regulation is necessary to make sure that they are followed. In a perfect world, these norms of behavior would be followed by all parties concerned. Of course, this world is not perfect, thus it is the job of the government to enforce these regulations; but only after self regulation has proven ineffective.

The problem as we have it now is that the Federal Government has taken over the functions of regulation that should be left at the state level or even at the local level. Professional groups could self police a whole bunch of this stuff.

Because this regulation has been centered in Washington it has become possible for the largest banks and corporations to, for all intents and purposes, take over the regulating bodies by taking control of the government. This has become brutally apparent as the "too big to fails" suck more and more of our wealth into their pockets with the willing cooperation of our politicians. These "too big to fails" have got their hands on the gun and they are pointing it right at us.

As the article above makes perfectly clear, we're screwed, glued and tattooed. There is very little left that can be done to avert the coming collapse. We have worshipped the god of freedom while neglecting the God that gave it to us. I would say that our time is short. We just need to figure out how long it will take this cabal of robber barons to suck every last bit of wealth out of the system. The collapse will be scheduled for the following day.

Perhaps, when we have lost everything and we aren't worrying about protecting ourselves from those with the gun, we will understand freedom as it was truly meant to be.