Bravo. Which is why the neo-liberal pioneer and turbo-capitalist, Margeret Thatcher once said: "There is no such thing as society..." (October 31 1987) For she herself was that egoistic (wo)man concerned only with herself. As far as she was concerned, the rest of the world did not exist if it was not serving her own goals.

Thatcher may be dead and gone: the monsters she unleashed are still with us.

"The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters." Gramsci

With respect, I would have to disagree. Capitalism is better defined as a system of consent. Someone has a product to sell for a certain price. I either agree or don't, it is ultimately my choice

Read, and read more. Quotes here have only one intention, to make you read and think. Having product to sell is not capitalism, people sold products way way back. If you want greatly simplified definition - capitalism is the system where everything is for sale, everything becomes goods, including workforce.

A system were everything is for sale, understood, is it necessarily bad? I think not.

No one argue with you. But it is best to first check fundamental works on a subject.
We are rising opinion to knowledge here.

the only good thing about capitalism is that there is still some research&development going on, which is of course completely profit oriented. The anticapitalistic approach is towards the "common good" which is usually against private property. But when you hear private property, don't think that someone will come and pick up your gear or take your home, it is about your landowner who just "owns" and force you to pay rent. Some people are concerned about capitalism, so let them destruct it.

Funny :-) Capitalism and private property to the means of production just means that you need to go to work for capitalist to have any place to live and something to eat, and you also need to get bank loans to "buy" your home and car and if you become seriously sick people will come and confiscate both and you will still owe them :-) All people are concerned about capitalism, just most have hard time understanding that to do and other part just regularly become wet in their bad realising that understanding is slowly coming and soon things will change.

I need Lumix GH5, and I expect someone gives it to me, I'll return it as soon as I get fed up with it. I don't want to buy it, own it and perpetuate evil Panasonic privately owned conglomerate. After all, I was born naked, I can't own anything else but my body.

I would like to see a state owned camera company. If we could just give the exclusive rights to the State to make cameras, we would already have Lumix (or should I say, Stateix) TZ series with 2mm-9000mm f/0.1 120fps 16K 4:4:4 cameras for $19.95 (as a part of state subsidized "Photo Nation" program).

But where are we now in this awful capitalistic system? Stuck at 6K - made in sweatshops, by slave labor? Deplorable.

When will we learn? Never. Makes me sad :(

But that's the wheel of history and human evolution or progress, regress or however one wishes to word it. In the end, in the grand scheme of things, nobody will care if some disgruntled politician/philosopher/whoever was "right" or "wrong" about something, especially when it deals with volatile things like societies. It's all ebb and flow. Always was, always will be.

I can make a prediction, today, about something and wait for it to play out...it could be 10 years, 100 years, 1000 years - eventually my prediction will come true, in some way. That's just basic math, it will come true. And then what? People will say "I was right all along" ? Ok, what then? What about the meantime, between my prediction and its realization?

Makes no sense. People will adapt to whatever's coming, it was always like that, and it will continue to be like that until we completely disappear from this place called Earth. I don't understand critiques of capitalism because they always sound like cheap populism for people who didn't manage to get rich. But everyone would like to get rich. That's normal, human behavior. Even the socialist leaders built palaces. Not necessarily "essential" for the people. Never in my life have I heard about modest leader who led his people by example.

That's because those kinds of things exist only on paper or in movies.

What are the solutions? I've been listening to "leftist" (so to speak) criticisms of capitalism (I think they use that term very loosely, but whatever) my entire life. I never heard any "we got an idea - this way".

It was either rehashing past epic failure concepts, or just plain "it doesn't work - it just sucks".

OK I think I got the memo and now I'm all ears, waiting for solution, constructive idea, one small step forward. What is it? More criticism? A book or a smug, witty "clearly unbiased" documentary on how bad capitalism is or was? I don't care how my opinion/knowledge ranks in the eyes of anyone else, if I appear stone-age, whatever, what am I supposed to do about it, appease, beg for better status?

I just would like a constructive idea. We got it, this sucks and we will ruin the planet - etc. So, in order to avoid all that we should all ______... ?

@Riker

Solution is to start contemplating Life outside of the Box they try so close us in, off the beaten path and preestablished divisions and norms: For start, Stop thinking in terms of Left and Right. Its an artificial division. Invented by the ones who can profit out of you swallowing that bait that Life is like a Holuwood movie-good guys and bas guys...

Let me give you an example to make you think: The biggest Capitalist in the World right now is-Communist Country! China. Isn't that interesting?

@irondiver Everything means EVERYTHING. Everything isn't just the things you buy in shooping mall you shcmuck, but also Education, Health, Justice, Love...do you realy like society in which Justice and Health have market price? If so, how much tou are willing to pay so you are not sick?

I think you need to understand your Monetary System to say comments like that? The Bail Out was about Banks unable to give Credit and Loans, ie the Good Banks left standing unable to give out loans, that is what was going to kill everyones Economy. Here in Australia the first thing the Government did was guarantee all the Banks, otherwise they were going to stop lending. The American Bail Out was to stabilize Banks and Lending because everything grows off Credit which is the Supply of Money via the Treasury(Bonds) but through the Banks!

Time to close topic, as it went offroad.

@Riker

I already told that here level of discussion is different. And to rise your opinion you need to read. I mean, seriously.

@brianl

You do not need "computer models", as any computer model is made on fundamental assumptions and such. Read fundamental things and apply to reality around, it will be enough without computers.

@Brig

Things you wrote is fun, as you do not understand parts of that you write. I'll try to write after Photokina meaning of some terms that you use not understanding.

@All

Guys, read. It is not hard. If you are loving free market, read fundamental works on other side at least, not few internet posts. And vice versa.

P.S. Personal parts in 2 posts removed, none of the else parts touched.