Post Here Your Favorite Romney Policy Stances

[Lorizael]

19th century Ireland wasn't capitalist?

Ireland was no true Scotsman.

[Jaguar]

Incidentally, the people who were starving weren't really allowed to own capital, either. Which is kind of the whole point of capitalism. It's literally embedded in the name.

[giblets]

I used the present tense, and meant it - go back a few centuries and starvation was a problem everywhere - but you should be aware that there were British laws designed to prevent the importation of food in order to "protect" people from being able to eat cheaply.

Incidentally, this is the exact sort of nonsense that we see from the Obama administration.

You can still be "capitalist" if you have protectionism, unless the US wasn't capitalist for most of its history.

I'm also skeptical toward the assertion that farmers (who get their income from food) would have starved less if food prices had simply been lower.

[giblets]

Incidentally, the people who were starving weren't really allowed to own capital, either. Which is kind of the whole point of capitalism. It's literally embedded in the name.

I though those laws had been repealed?

[Kuciwalker]

It's almost as if your attempt to divide societies into rigorous "capitalist" and "not capitalist" groups and assert that any claim like "capitalism is good" must apply uniformly accross every "capitalist" country is utterly ridiculous and intellectually dishonest.

[Kuciwalker]

Seriously, why do you make a habit of being deliberately obtuse? It doesn't make you look clever; it makes you look like you're 12.

[giblets]

It's almost as if your attempt to divide societies into rigorous "capitalist" and "not capitalist" groups and assert that any claim like "capitalism is good" must apply uniformly accross every "capitalist" country is utterly ridiculous and intellectually dishonest.

Yeah, better stick with "it's 'capitalist' if I agree with it".

[Kuciwalker]

Yeah, better stick with "it's 'capitalist' if I agree with it".

That would be a pretty useful definition, in fact, and would closely match most textbook definitions.

[giblets]

Doesn't matter what bad things happen in a society dominated by the rich, if they're bad they're not really capitalist

edit: this post is not offering a definition of 'capitalism'.

[Kuciwalker]

Funny, that's not what you said literally two posts up.

Yeah, better stick with "it's 'capitalist' if I agree with it".

[Kuciwalker]

You are veering into Aeson-level dishonesty. I guess it's time to throw you back on my ignore list

[Jaguar]

Doesn't matter what bad things happen in a society dominated by the rich, if they're bad they're not really capitalist

All societies are dominated by the rich. The capitalist ones happen to do well.

[Hauldren Collider]

All societies are dominated by the rich.

I think this is essentially the definition of "rich"

[giblets]

All societies are dominated by the rich. The capitalist ones happen to do well.

Sure. No society ever has a truly free market, even if that society is dominated by capitalists, because it's not in the interest of the powerful.

[Jaguar]

I would just prefer a society where the powerful have to provide things of value to people in order to get that power. Centuries of empirical data prove this a good idea.

Which brings us around full circle. Mitt Romney