I wish we had something better...

I agree with you up to:

Regulation returns economic conditions to an environment that is suitable for the consumer as well as the investor.

Yes, perhaps if we had a fair, unbiased and balanced regulation with no ulterior motives or political agenda with criminals running the regulations and politicians on the take skimming off the top, implementing self-serving rules and regulations, fees and tariffs, and using 'regulation' as a weapon to forward the special interests of the few...

... well, you get the idea.

In a perfect world, if altruistic forces regulated, then I could get behind it. However that is not the case. The foxes rule the hen house.

Isn't rabid corporate Capitalism run rampant these days simply a fraudulent monopoly perpetuated by the haves against the have nots? It is not true free market capitalism, but theft.

Somehow, the monopoly of greed has to be broken. I realize that big business will not regulate itself, (which is why I still have a soft spot for Ralph 'the nanny' Nader), however the current system is broken and has to be replaced. And not by socialist totalitarianism, which is what happens when the socialist leftists gets into power and redistribute the wealth, with a great deal of it of it into their own pockets (human nature never changes)

Capitalism vs the welfare state. That is the question. You know, a bit of added personal responsibility would encourage compassionate and caring people to help those citizens who are "not equally equipped to win the capitalist race", (the unwanted and uncared for children, and those that are undereducated, underprivileged, under skilled or unable in any way to rise above the so called poverty line). Actually, some people already help others without the government requiring them to do it ... What a concept!

The big problem is, however, that you can't legislate caring and compassion. We have to adopt it as a society and then teach it to our children.

BTW, Libertarianism doesn't mean that valid and necessary social program would not be implemented, but that perhaps privatized elements could handle it equally as well if not better than big brother. That may not be such a bad idea seeing as how screwed up it is now under centralized government control. Privatization is not a bad idea in itself. The average person, not the government, should own and control their resourses, their welfare and the course of their lives. The current privatization structure is the ruling elite simply enriching themselves, and the haves getting richer at the expense of the have nots while ruining the environment and destroying our way of life bit by bit.


At any rate, the points you make are true as seen from a certain point of view, however the current system of entitlements, pork, bought and paid for votes, on the take politicians ....and a system that is completely subservient to big business will never allow a true and fair free market.

Sigh.

Is Libertarianism the perfect answer? Probably not.

However I like them far better than the alternatives, and they do believe in civil liberty, personal responsibility, privacy, peace instead of war ...and they also believe that the monster of the federal government has grown far to big, too corrupt and too out of control and has to has to be cut down to size. And THEY still honor the spirit of the constitution. More than I can say for any of the others...

;0)

Wiz