The Supreme Court May Finally Do Something Right!

[Radar]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

Albania
Albania
You border on the Adriatic
Your land is mostly mountainous
And your chief export is chrome.

Albania: the place that sucks so hard even Capitalism didn't work. What you say, I thought Capitalism was perfect. We have to revise that: *nearly* perfect.



50% inflation. Pyramid schemes. 1500 deaths. Bouncing currency values. Widespread destruction of property. These are not the signals of success you were expecting. These are extreme market failures. Capitalism almost always works... although sometimes it doesn't. But that's the human condition in a nutshell.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Albania a former Eastern block nation? My guess is any kind of attempt they made at capitalism, wasn't really capitalism. They probably didn't even understand what capitalism really means. Pyramid schemes aren't capitalism and nor is any system that requires government force to exist. My guess is they had some form of highly regulated system with capitalist leanings that didn't work because it was stifled.

Capitalism is the free and voluntary exchange of goods or services on a value for value basis. Any third party involvement on the part of the government in these exchanges disqualifies this from being capitalism.

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by Radar

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Albania a former Eastern block nation? My guess is any kind of attempt they made at capitalism, wasn't really capitalism. They probably didn't even understand what capitalism really means.

I'm saving this quote. For when Dana next explains that Communism as practised in the 20th century is not soemthing she would advocate. It's usually decreied as a twisty excuse, so I'm pleased to see there are examples at the other end of the spectrum.

BTW I still remember that Cheers episode.
I bet this weekend if I start singing "Albania, Albania" my brother will join in...
I honestly thought that was just a family thing!

[Radar]

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl

I'm saving this quote. For when Dana next explains that Communism as practised in the 20th century is not soemthing she would advocate. It's usually decreied as a twisty excuse, so I'm pleased to see there are examples at the other end of the spectrum.

By all means save it, but it does nothing to bolster that argument. Communism started off with all of the altruistic intents of Marx but eventually it led to totalitarianism because it must. It always does because it violates human nature.

All I'm saying is merely calling something "capitalism" doesn't make it so. Capitalism didn't fail in Albania. Albania failed to implement real capitalism.

This has nothing to do with my "mental model" of capitalism. It has to do with the reality that capitalism doesn't require force to exist and everything else does and because capitalism is purely voluntary. I'm not saying capitalism is perfect....just closer to perfection than any other economic system ever devised.