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   alt.politics.economics      "Its the economy, stupid"      345,374 messages   

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   Message 343,378 of 345,374   
   davidp to All   
   Don't refuse to trade with other nations   
   16 Mar 23 22:26:15   
   
   From: lessgovt@gmail.com   
      
   QUORA: Why is capitalism the only ideology that works?   
   ---answered by Brandon Ross, Small-l libertarian, Oct 24, 2023   
      
   Capitalism is not and does not attempt to be some kind of comprehensive   
   ideology. It does not attempt to redefine logic or meaning to serve its ends.   
   It does not have ends.   
      
   Capitalism arose from a fairly simple, practical question: what makes the   
   people of a nation materially (i.e. economically) wealthier?   
      
   The early capitalists had some answer to that. Sort of. The answers were more   
   of the form, “Don't do X.”   
      
   Among them, don't destroy wealth. Don't prevent wealth creation out of   
   political spite. Separate the government's treasury from the market itself.   
   Don't maintain anti-labor statutes which prevent productive behavior. Don't   
   tax wealth creation out of    
   existence. Don't do things your nation isn't good at. Don't refuse to trade   
   with other nations because of their politics and religions.   
      
   Capitalism doesn't call for great political upheaval. Or, violent revolution.   
      
   If you someone with a political ideology who wields power doesn't do these   
   things, everyone else eventually figures out the rest. At least, much of the   
   time. They don't require someone to tell them what to do to pursue their own   
   ends.   
      
   Capitalism doesn't really tell you how political power should be wielded. It's   
   largely indifferent to the specifics.   
      
   On the other hand, if you do the things which the capitalists warned of,   
   “Hey, that's a bad idea which some people learned the very hard way,” you   
   run the risk that you're greater political ideology eventually won't have any   
   material legs to stand on.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)   

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