My Dear friend Bob Burg posted a comments to this Rebel Rant as I was moving my site. I wanted to share it with everyone – since it is SO RIGHT ON. So – here are Bob’s word:
"Nice rant, Rebel. Quick additional points, if I may: Government didn’t just "step in" after the fact (as it appears you are saying, though I might have misinterpreted what you said), and government isn’t just letting them get by with it. Government was there with them from the get-go in contributing to the economic meltdown every step of the way. You are correct when you say "this is not Capitalism." It’s not. It is "Corporatism", which basically means it is welfare for the wealthy who get to play by different rules, and with the understanding that their bad decisions will be reimbursed by the taxpayers. Capitalism is when people are free to buy, sell and trade voluntarily, and with no special rules in place that favor those who have the money to pay their lobbyists to buy favors from our government. It’s disgusting indeed. And the bankers you mention absolutely should be taken to task for this. However, without the compliance of the government that is supposed to representing its citizens but is instead allowing themselves to be bought and sold to the highest bidder, these bankers would not have been able to make this happen. "
Bob – you are SO RIGHT. Our government is now so ‘owned’ by the special lobbying interests that we are hard pressed to see capitalism – or democracy for that matter.
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Rebel Brown
April 12, 2010 - 4:12 pmMy Dear friend Bob Burg posted a comments to this Rebel Rant as I was moving my site. I wanted to share it with everyone – since it is SO RIGHT ON. So – here are Bob’s word:
"Nice rant, Rebel. Quick additional points, if I may: Government didn’t just "step in" after the fact (as it appears you are saying, though I might have misinterpreted what you said), and government isn’t just letting them get by with it. Government was there with them from the get-go in contributing to the economic meltdown every step of the way. You are correct when you say "this is not Capitalism." It’s not. It is "Corporatism", which basically means it is welfare for the wealthy who get to play by different rules, and with the understanding that their bad decisions will be reimbursed by the taxpayers. Capitalism is when people are free to buy, sell and trade voluntarily, and with no special rules in place that favor those who have the money to pay their lobbyists to buy favors from our government. It’s disgusting indeed. And the bankers you mention absolutely should be taken to task for this. However, without the compliance of the government that is supposed to representing its citizens but is instead allowing themselves to be bought and sold to the highest bidder, these bankers would not have been able to make this happen. "
Bob – you are SO RIGHT. Our government is now so ‘owned’ by the special lobbying interests that we are hard pressed to see capitalism – or democracy for that matter.